ANECDOTES 

OF THE 

AMERICAN INDIANS, 




Illustrating their Eccentricities of Character. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF "EVENINGS IN BOSTON," "RAMON THE 
ROVER OF CUBA." &C 

HARTFORD: 
PUBLISHED BY C. M. WELLES 

1850. ^rrTT-.^ 



►Mis 



Entered according to the Act of Congsess, in the yogi 1843, by 
ALEXANDER V. BLAKE, 
in the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York. 



STEREOTYPED BY S. DOUGLAS WYETH, 

No. 7 Pear S£. Philadelphia. 



PREFACE. 



The character of the aboriginal inhabitants 
of the western continent is in many respects 
remarkable and striking. It possesses great 
interest for the student of history as well as the 
observer of human nature. Still this character 
has never been properly exhibited in a connected 
view. One is obliged to detect the traits in de- 
tached incidents and scattered descriptions : and 
thus by a sort of inductive process to determine 
the real disposition, powers and capabilities of 
the North American Savage. It is for the 
purpose of bringing the materials of this in- 
ductive process within the compass of a single 
volume of moderate size that these "Anecdotes" 
have been collected. They present the savage 
in all his various aspects and relations, in all 
circumstances of sorrow and joy, danger, diffi- 
culty and triumph. The incidents here narrated, 

1* 



vi 



PREFACE. 



while they exhibit the most prominent traits of 
the Indian character, also bring into view the 
most striking passages of our national history 
in its connection with the aborigines, and thus 
serve a double purpose as an exercise in his- 
torical as well as philosophical study. Its chief 
object is utility. Its particular design is to 
subserve the great cause of national education. 

Philadelphia October 11, 1843. 



ANECDOTES 



OP THE 

AMERICAN INDIANS. 



INDIAN HONESTY. 

In the character of the Indians of North 
America there are many traits which their white 
neighbours would do well to imitate. Among 
these, (strict honesty is one. Mr. Catlin gives 
the credit ofTRIs T^tffue^fo all the wild tribes 
which he visited, not corrupted by intercourse 
with civilized nations. Bolts and bars, for the 
protection of property, among them are un- 
known. He cites many examples to prove this. 
The following anecdote is from another source. 

.An Indian being among his white neighbors, 
asked for a little tobacco to smoke, and one of 
them, having some Loose in his pocket, gave 
him a handful. The day following, the Indian 
came back, inquiring for the donor, saying he 
had found a quarter of a dollar among the to- 
bacco ; being told that as it was given him he 
might as well keep it, he answered, pointing to 
his breast: <I got a good man and a bad man, 
here ; and the good man say, it is not mine, I 
must return it to the owner ; the bad man say, 



8 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



why he gave it to you, and it is your own 
now ; the good man say, that's not right, the 
tobacco is yours, not the money ; the bad man 
say, never mind, you got it, go buy some dram ; 
the good man say, no, no, you must not do so ; 
so I don't know what to do, and I think to go 
to sleep ; but the good man and the bad man 
keep talking all night, and trouble me ; and 
now I bring the money back I feel good.' 

c 

HONOR AMONG INDIANS. 

There is no class of human beings on earth, 
who hold a pledge more sacred and binding, 
than do the North American Indians. A sam- I 
pie of this was witnessed during the Winne- I 
bago war of 1827, in the person of Dekker-re, j 
a celebrated chief of that nation, who, among 
four other Indians of his tribe, was taken pri- I 
soner at Prairie du Cbien. Colonel Snelling, of 
the 5th regiment of infantry, who then com- j 
manded that garrison, despatched a young In- I 
dian into the nation, with orders to inform the 
other chiefs of Dekker-re's band, that unless j 
those Indians who were perpetrators of the j 
horrid murders of some of our citizens, were 
brought to the fort and given up within ten j 
days, Dekker-re and the other four Indians who 
were retained as hostages, would be shot at the 
end of that time. The awful sentence was pro- 
nounced in the presence of Dekker-re, who, J 
though proclaiming his own innocence of the 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



9 



outrages which had been committed by others 
of his nation, exclaimed that he feared not 
death, though it would be attended with se- 
rious consequences, inasmuch as he had two 
affectionate wives and a large family of small 
children who were entirely dependent on him 
for their support ; but if necessary, he was wil- 
ling to die for the honour of his nation. The 
young Indian had been gone several days, and 
no intelligence was yet received from the mur- 
derers. The dreadful day being near at hand, 
and Dekker-re being in a bad state of health, 
asked permission of the Colonel to go to the 
river to indulge in his long accustomed habit of 
bathing ; in order to improve his health. Upon 
which, Col. S. told him that, if he would pro- 
mise, on the honor of a chief, that he would not 
leave the town, he might have his liberty, and 
enjoy all his privileges, until the day of the ap- 
pointed execution. Accordingly he first gave 
his hand to the Colonel, thanked him for his 
friendly offer, then raised both his hands aloft, 
and in the most solemn adjuration, promised 
that he would not leave the bounds prescribed, 
and said, if he had a hundred lives, he would 
sooner lose them all than forfeit his word, or 
deduct from his proud nation one particle of its 
boasted honor. He was then set at liberty. He 
was advised tojlee to the wilderness, and make 
his escape. "{But no," said he, " do you think 
I prize life above honor ? or that I would be- 
tray a confidence reposed in me, for the sake of 
saving my life?" He then complacently re- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



malned until nine days of the ten which he had 
to live had elapsed, and nothing heard from the 
nation with regard to the apprehension of the 
murderers, his immediate death became appa- 
rent; but no alteration could be seen in the 
countenance of the chief. It so happened that 
on that day, Gen. Atkinson arrived with his 
troops from Jefferson Barracks, and the order 
for execution was countermanded, and the 
Indians permitted to repair to their homes. 

INDIAN ELOQUENCE. 



The Indian warrior Tecumseh, who fell in 
the late American war, was not only an accom- 
plished military commander, but also a great 
natural statesman and orator. Among the many 
strange, and some strongly characteristic events | 
of his life, the council which the American Ge- \ 
neral Harrison held with the Indians at Vincen- 
lies, in 1811, affords an admirable instance of 
the sublimity which sometimes distinguished 
his eloquence. The chiefs of some tribes had \ 
come to complain of a purchase of lands which j 
had been made from the Kickafoos. The coun- 
cil effected nothing, but broke up in confusion, 
in consequence of Tecumseh having called Ge- 
neral Harrison " a liar." During the long talks 
which took place in the conference, Tecumseh, 
having finished one of his speeches, looked 
round, and seeing every one seated, while no \ 
seat was prepared for him, a momentary frown j 



i 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



11 



passed over his countenance. Instantly Gene- 
ral Harrison ordered that a chair should be 
given him. Some person presented one, and 
bowing, said to him, "Warrior, your father,! 
General Harrison, offers you a seat." Tecum- 
seh's dark eye flashed. "My father !" he ex- 
claimed indignantly, extending his arms to- 
wards heaven ; " the sun is my father, and the 
earth is my mother ; she gives me nourishment, 
and I repose upon her bosom/' As he ended, 
he suddenly seated himself on the ground. 

INDIAN COQUETRY. 

The Chawanon Indians, inhabiting the lake 
of Marcotti, and who are considered the most 
warlike and civilized of the American Indians, 
have a manner of courtship which we believe 
to be peculiar to themselves. When such of their 
young women as have pretensions to beauty , at- 
tain their twelfth year, which is the usual period 
of their marriage, they either keep themselves 
quite secluded at home, or when they go out 
muffle themselves up in such a manner, that 
nothing is seen but their eyes. On these indi- 
cations of beauty, they are eagerly sought in 
marriage, and those suitors who have acquired 
the greatest reputation as warriors or hunters, 
obtain the consent of the family. After this, 
the lover repairs to the cabin, where the beauty 
is lying enveloped on her couch. He gently 
approaches and uncovers her face, so that his 



12 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



person may be seen, and if this be to her mind, 
she invites him to lie down by her side ; if not, 
she again conceals her face, and the lover re- 
tires. A husband has the privilege of marry- 
ing all his wife's sisters as they arrive at age, so 
that after, often before, his first wife is thirty, 
he has married and abandoned at least a 
dozen. 

WEATHERFORD. 

(See Frontispiece.) 

" I come, my Wilwullah ! 
Guide hither our boy ! 
I bring from the forest 

Its spirit and joy : 
Why lingereth my soft-eyed V* 
And dark grew his brow ; 
M Thy hunter returneth — 
Where, truant, art thou?" 

He enters his wigwam — 

What meaneth that cry ? 
His bold form what freezeth ? 

What filmeth his eye ? 
The work of the white men ! 

His mate of the wood, 
And their fawns, the light-footed, 

All couched in their blood ! 

Before a cold foeman 

The Indian is cold; 
But his heart in his wild-wood 

Is like molten gold. 
The warrior has clasped them— 

He's red in their gore ! 
Has raved and wept o'er them— 

But ne'er will weep more I 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



•* Ye snow-brow destroyers ! 

Ye false and ye foul ! 
For this, by Manito ! 

For this shall ye howl ! 
I swear that pale thousands 

Shall weep for this blow ; 
For each drop here wasted, 

Red rivers shall flow ! 

84 When smoke dims the distance, 

And shrieks fill the air, 
Then white lips will whisper, 

* Fly 1 Weather ford's there i* 
Your warriors shall perish ; 

We'll laugh at their shame ; 
And the blood of your loved ones 

Shall hiss in the flame !" 

How was that vow answered ? 

Ask Mimms : it will tell ! 
Where the battle was hottest 

There his hatchet fell ; 
Where the shriek was the loudest, 

Where freest ran blood, 
Be sure, mid his victims, 

There Weatherford stood I 

But feeble the red men, 

Though fierce in the fray ; 
Like mists in the morning, 

They melted away. 
'* Give us peace !" prayed the vanquished 5 

" The white chieftain gives 
No peace"- — was the answer — 

" While Weatherford lives." 

That lion-souled chieftain's* 

Alone in his tent : 
*Tis midnight ; still over 

His toil he is bent. 



* General Jackson* 
2 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



The drapery is rustled— 
He turns not his ear : 

" Ho ! Look up, proud warrior. 
Thy foeman is here i" 

A dark form stood o'er him, 

His red arm on high ; 
But quailed not the chieftain 

Beneath his dark eye. 
M What art thou, bold savage ? 

Sooth, light the foot fell 
That stole through the watch 

Of my tried sentinel." 

" Where Weatherford willeth, 

Even there will he go ; 
He heeds not thy sentry 

When seeking his foe." 
11 1 fear thee not, boaster !" 

" Thou needest not fear ; 
For peace for my people, 

For peace came I here. 

" Thou'd'st have me sent to thee, 

And sent to thee bound ; 
But Weatherford dies not 

The death of a hound : 
No recreant, no trembler, 

No captive am I — 
I've fetterless lived, and 

Will fetterless die. 

*' To save my crushed people 
I die, but die free — 

A sacrifice worthy 
Of them and of thee !" 

" No — back to thy forest- 
Bold warrior go ! 

I strike not the head 
That is bent to the blow 

** Aye, go ! but remember 
Wben meet we again, 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



15 



Thy lot is the gibbet, 

The cord and the chain. 
Be strong for the battle ! 

No quarter we yield : 
^To fear and no mercy ! 

Now, back to the field 1" 

" I long have fought with thee, 

And still would fight on — 
But my true Seminoles — 

My warriors are gone ! 
My brave ones I'd rally, 

And fight at their head ; 
But where is the warrior 

Can rally the dead 1 

" At red Talledegha, 

Emuckfaw they stood — 
Thou knowest that our valleys 

Are black with their blood. 
By the wailing Savannah 

Unburied they lie ; 
Spare, warrior, the remnant, 

Let Weatherford die !" 

No longer the soldier 

The bold plea could hear, 
But quick from his bronzed cheek 

He hurried a tear. 
" Devoted and brave ! As 

Thou wilPst shall it be ; 
Here's peace to thy people, 

And friendship for thee 1" 

THE FOLLOWING IS THE INCIDENT ON WHICH 
THE FOREGOING LINES ARE FOUNDED.* 

Billy Weatherford, the celebrated savage 
warrior, is, at length, vanquished — the desroyer 

* Published in the Mobile Com. Register, March, 



16 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



is conquered — the hand which so profusely 
dealt death and desolation among the whites, 
is now paralyzed — it is motionless. He died 
at his late residence near Montpelier, in this 
state, on the 9th inst. His deeds of war are 
well known to the early settlers in South Ala- 
bama, and will be remembered by them while 
they live : and be talked of, with horror, by 
generations yet unborn. But his dauntless spi- 
rit has taken its flight — " he is gone to the land 
of his fathers." 

Billy Weatherford, denominated c The Pro- 
phet,' was about one -fourth Indian (some say 
a half breed) his ancestry, on the white side, 
having been Scottish. It has been said, that 
he boasted of having no Yankee (meaning 
American) blood in his veins/ 

This ferocious chief led the hostile Indians to 
the attack of Fort Mimms, at Tensau, on the 
30th of August, 1S13; which resulted in the 
indiscriminate massacre of men, women, and 
children, to the number of near four hundred. 
He was also a leader associated with the pro- 
phets Francis and Sinquister, at the battle 
fought on the 23d of December following, at 
Ekchanachaca, or 6 The Holy Ground ;' which 
had been considered by them inaccessible to 
their enemies, and the 6 Grave of White Men.' 
But it proved a fatal delusion. His party suf- 
fered great loss of warriors, and all the pro- 
visions, munitions of war, &c, deposited at this 
place of imaginary security; being, as they 
supposed, rendered secure by the protecting in- 
fluence of some supernatural agency. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



17 



It is stated, that — after being sated with the 
blood of Americans, and witnessing the almost 
total extinction of his warriors — he voluntarily 
and dauntlessly flung himself into the hands of 
General Jackson, and demanded his protection. 
He is said, on surrendering himself, to have 
made the following speech to the General — 
which looks very little like claiming protection 
It displays a spirit, which would have done 
credit to Napoleon, under similar circumstances, 
after the battle of Waterloo : 
r^.« I am in your power : do with me what you 
I please. I am a soldier. I have done the white 
people all the harm I could. I have fought 
them, and fought them bravely. If I had an 
army, I would yet fight, and contend to the 
last. But I have done — my people are all 
gone — I can do no more than weep over the 
misfortunes of my nation. Once I could ani- 
mate my warriors to battle : but I cannot ani- 
mate the dead. My warriors can no longer 
hear my voice — their bones are at Talladega, 
Tallaschatchee, Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka. I 
have not surrendered myself thoughtlessly. 
Whilst there were chances of success, I never 
left my post, nor supplicated peace. But my 
people are gone, and I now ask it for my na- 
tion, and for myself. 

"On the miseries and misfortunes brought 
upon my country, I look back with the deepest 
sorrow, and wish to avert still greater calami- 
ties. If I had been left to contend with the 
Georgian army, I would have raised my coru 
2* 



18 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



on one bank of the river, and have fought them 
on the other. But your people have destroyed 
my nation. You are a brave man. I rely upon 
your generosity. You will exact no terms of a 
conquered people, but such as they should ac- 
cede to. Whatever they may be, it would now 
be madness and folly to oppose them. If they 
are opposed, you shall find me among the 
sternest enforcers of obedience. Those who 
would still hold out, can be influenced only by 
a mean spirit of revenge; and, to this, they 
must not, and shall not, sacrifice the last rem- 
nant of their country. You have told us, 
where we might go, and be safe. This is a 
good talk, and my nation ought to listen to it. 
They shall listen to it" 1 */ 



INDIAN CHARACTER. 



A striking display of Indian character oc- 
curred some years since in a town in Maine. 
An Indian of the Kennebeck tribe remarkable 
for his good conduct, received a grant of land 
from the state, and fixed himself in a new 
township, where a number of families settled. 
Though not ill treated, yet the common preju- 
dice against Indians prevented any sympathy 

♦This speech is the most manly and dignified piece of 
Indian oratory that has ever met our eye. It even sur- 
passes the admired speech of Caractacus, the Briton, when 
led captive to Rome ; — and is, in no wise, inferior to that of 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



19 



with him. This was shown at the death of his 
only child, when none of the people came near 
him. Shortly afterwards he went to some of 
the inhabitants, and said to them. (When white 
man's child die — Indian man be sorry — he 
help bury him — when my child die — no one 
speak to me — I make his grave alone — I cant 
no live here. — He gave up his farm, dug up 
the body of his child and carried it with him 
two hundred miles through the forest, to join 
the Canada Indians. What energy and depth 
of feeling does this specimen of Indian cha- 
racter exhibit ! 



AN INDIAN BEAU. 



A young Indian warrior is, notoriously, the 
most thoroughgoing beau in the world. Bond- 
street and Broadway furnish no subjects that 
will undergo as much crimping and confine- 
ment, to appear in full dress. We are confi- 
dent that we have observed such a character 
constantly occupied with his paints and his 
pocket-glass, three full hours, laying on his co- 
lours, and adjusting his tresses, and contem- 
plating, from time to time, with visible satisfac- 
tion, the progress of his growing attractions. 
When he has finished, the proud triumph of 
irresistible charms is in his eye. The chiefs 
and warriors, in full dress, have one, two, or 
three broad clasps of silver about their arms ; 
generally jewels in their ears, and often in their 



20 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



noses; and nothing is more common than to 
see a thin circular piece of silver, of the size of 
a dollar, depending from their nose, a little be- 
low the upper lip. Nothing shows more clearly 
the influence of fashion. This ornament — so 
painfully inconvenient, as it evidently is to 
them, and so horribly ugly and disfiguring — 
seems to be the utmost finish of Indian taste. 
Porcupine quills, stained of different colours, 
are twisted in their hair. Tails of animals hang 
from their hair behind. A necklace of bears' 
or alligators' teeth, or claws of the bald eagle, 
hangs loosely down ; and an interior and small- 
er circle of large red beads, or in default of 
them, a rosary of red hawthorn berries, sur- 
rounds the neck. From the knees to the feet, 
the legs are decorated with great numbers of 
little perforated cylindrical pieces of silver or 
brass, that emit a simultaneous tinkle as the 
person walks. If, to all this, he add an Ame- 
rican hat, and a soldier's coat, of blue, faced 
with red, over the customary calico shirt of the 
gaudiest colours that can be found, he lifts his 
feet high, and steps firmly on the ground, to 
give his tinklers a uniform and full sound ; and 
apparently considers his person with as much 
complacency as the human bosom can be sup- 
posed to feel. This is a very curtailed view of 
an Indian beau ; but every reader, competent 
to judge, will admit its fidelity, as far as it goes, 
to the description of a young Indian warrior 
over the whole Mississippi Valley, when pre- 
pared to take part in a public dance. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 21 
AN INDIAN TOAST. 

When General Wayne was holding his treaty 
with the Indians at Greenville, a young chief 
sat down at the dinner table, next to the Gene- 
ral. This was not much relished by the White 
Chief; but he did not wish to give open offence 
to his Red Brother. The cloth being removed, 
the wine began to circulate ; when Wayne — 
thinking to confound and abash the young 
chief — asked him for a toast. This being in- 
terpreted and explained to this son of the forest, 
he filled his tumbler with wine, and gave 6 The 
Great Spirit 9 — and after an impressive pause, 
pressing his hand on his breast — he added, 
" Because he put it into the heart of man to 
make such good liquor!" 

SHREWDNESS. 

" He that delivereth it unto thee hath the 
greater sin." 

"I am glad," said the Rev. Dr. Y s to 

the chief of the Little Otto was, " that you do 
not drink whiskey. But it grieves me to find 
that your people use so much of it." "Ah, 
yes," replied the Indian, — and he fixed an 
arch and impressive eye upon the Doctor, 
which communicated the reproof before ha 
uttered it — "we Indians use a great deal oi 
whiskey, but we do not make it." \ 



22 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



LANGUAGE BY SIGNS. 

It is pretty well ascertained that there exists 
among mankind a universal language of signs, 
taught by nature herself. Voyagers have always 
used these signs among savage and previously 
undiscovered nations. They are always under- 
stood, and invariably form the basis of inter- 
course. The former director of the Hartford 
Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, informed the 
writer, that all the mutes who came to that in- 
stitution from different parts of the country, 
brought with them signs and motions which 
were essentially the same, and which coincided 
with those used in the institution. This proves 
that they are natural. 

Andrew Ellicott, Esq., commissioned by the 
United States to determine, in conjunction with 
the Commissioners of Spain, a line of demarca- 
tion between the territories of both nations, — 
related to the writer a curious trait in the 
savage character. 

On his way down the Mississippi, a number 
of strange Indians came into his camp, from 
the west side of the river. A Mr. Nolin hap 
pened to be there at the time, — well known for 
his enterprize and skill in catching wild horses 
in the Internal Provinces of Spanish America. 
He addressed them in such of the languages as 
he was acquainted with — but was not under- 
stood. He then conversed by certain signs, 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



23 



These were understood by the Indians, and were 
answered in like manner. Thus (if the expres- 
sion may be allowed) a c< nversation ensued, in 
which not a word was spoken: — "and this," 
said Nolin, "is a sort of universal language 
common to the Western tribes." — [See Major 
Long's Expedition.) 

m 

I 

LOGAN. 



This celebrated Indian chief, who had al- 
ways been a zealous friend of the English, and 
had often distinguished himself in their service, 
was taken prisoner, and brought before the 
General Assembly of Virginia, who hesitated 
whether he should be tried by court martial as 
a soldier, or at the criminal bar for high trea- 
son. Logan stated that they had no jurisdic- 
tion to try him ; that he owed no allegiance to 
the King of England, being an Indian Chief, 
independent of every nation. In answer to 
their inquiries as to his motives for taking up 
arms against the English, he thus addressed 
the Assembly. <<{T appeal to any white man, 
to say if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, 
and I gave him not meat ; if ever he came cold 
or naked, and I gave him not clothing. Dur- 
ing the last long and bloody war, Logan re- 
mained idle in his tent, an advocate for peace ; 
nay such was my love for the whites, that 
those of my country pointed at me, as they 
passed by, and said, < Logan is the friend of 



24 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



white men/ I had ever thought to live with 
you but for the injuries of one man. Colonel 
Cressap, the last spring, in cold blood, and un- 
provoked, cut off all the relations of Logan, 
not sparing even my women and children. 
There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins 
of any human creature. This called on me 
for revenge. I have sought it. I have killed 
many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. 
For my country, I rejoice at the beams of 
peace. But do not harbor the thought that 
mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. 
He will not turn his heel to save his life. Who 
is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one t" 

This pathetic speech touched the sensibility 
of all who heard it. The General Assembly 
applauded his noble sentiments, and immedi- 
ately set him at liberty. The inhabitants of 
Virginia vied with each other who should en- 
tertain him the best, or show him the greatest 
respect ; and he returned to his native country 
loaded with presents and honors. 

t 

the Indian's views of the trinity. 

Elliot had been lecturing on the doctrine of 
the trinity, when one of his auditors, after a 
long and thoughtful pause, thus addressed him. 
6 1 believe, Mr. Minister, I understand you. The 
trinity is just like water and ice and snow. 
The water is one, the ice is another, and the 
snow is another; and yet they are all one 
water.' 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



25 



MORE ROOM. 

When General Lincoln went to make peace 
with the Creek Indians, one of the chiefs asked 
him to sit down on a log ; he was then desired 
to move, and in a few minutes to move still 
farther ; the request was repeated till the Gene- 
ral got to the end of the log. The Indian said, 
'Move farther/ To which the General replied, 
6 1 can move no farther/ ( Just so it is with us/ 
said the chief; 'you have moved us back to 
the water, and then ask us to move farther/ 

INDIAN MENDACITY. 

Of all the vices incident to the aborigines of 
this country, from their intercourse with the 
whites, that of lying is, probably, not among 
the least. Some years anterior to the inde- 
pendence of the United States, one Tom Hyde, 
an Indian famous for his cunning, went into a 
tavern in Brookfield, Massachusetts, and after 
a little chat told the landlord he had been hunt- 
ing, and had killed a fine fat deer, and if he 
would give him a quart of rum he would tell 
him where it was. Mine host, unwilling to let 
slip so good an opportunity of obtaining veni- 
son, immediately struck the bargain and mea- 
sured the Indian his quart of rum, at the same 
time asking where the deer was to be found. 
6 Well/ savs Tom, 6 do you know where the 
3 



26 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 

great meadow is V ' Yes.' ' Well, do you know 
the great marked maple tree that stands in it?' 
'Yes.* 'Well, there lies the deer/ Away 
posted the landlord with his team, in quest of 
his purchase. He found the meadow and the 
tree, it is true ; but all his searching after the 
deer was fruitless, and he returned home no 
heavier than he went, except in mortification 
and disappointment. Some days after, mine 
host met the Indian, and feeling indignant at 
the deception practised on him, accused him in 
no gentle terms of the trick. Tom heard him 
out — and, with the coolness of a stoic, replied 
— 'Did you not find the meadow, as I said?' 
'Yes/ 'And the tree?' 'Yes/ 'And the 
deer V ' No/ ' Very good/ continued he, ' you 
found two truths for one lie, which is very 
well for an Indian? 



CANONICUS. 

Mr. Drake, in his Book of the Indians, thus 
mentions Canonicus, the sachem of the Narra- 
gansets : — 

He was contemporary with Miantunnomoh, 
who was his nephew. We know not the time 
of his birth, but a son of his was at Boston in 
1631, the next year after it was settled. But 
the time of his death is minutely recorded by 
Governor Winthrop, in his " Journal," thus : 
"June 4, 1647, Canonicus, the great sachem of 
Narraganset, died, a very old man." He is 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



27 



generally supposed to have been about 85 years 
of age when he died. 

He is mentioned with great respect by Rev. 
Roger Williams, in the year 1654. After ob- 
serving that many hundreds of the English were 
witnesses to the friendly disposition of the Nar- 
ragansets, he says, " their late famous long-lived 
Canonicus so lived and died, and in the same 
most honourable manner and solemnity, (in their 
way,) as you laid to sleep your prudent peace- 
maker, Mr. Winthrop, did they honour this their 
prudent and peaceable prince ; yea, through all 
their towns and countries how frequently do 
many, and oft times our Englishmen, travel 
alone with safety and loving kindness?" 

ESQUIMAUX INDIANS. 

Captain Ross, in the Journal of his Artie Expe 
dition, gives the following account of his first 
interview with the Esquimaux, in the north 
ern parts of Baffin's Bay : 

"These Esquimaux," says he, "conceived 
the ships to be living and flying creatures" 
* * "I had been employed, with a 
good telescope, in observing their motions, and 
beheld the first man approach, with every mark 
of fear and distrust — looking frequently behind 
to the other two, and beckoning them to come 
on, as if for support. They occasionally re- 
treated^ then advanced again, with cautious 



28 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



steps, in the attitude of listening; generally 
keeping one hand down by their knees, in 
readiness to pull out a knife, which they had in 
their boots : in the other hand they held their 
whips, with the lash coiled up : their sledges 
remained at a little distance — the fourth man 
being apparently stationed to keep them in 
readiness for escape. Sometimes they drew 
back the covering they had on their heads, as 
if wishing to catch the most distant sounds : 
at which time I could discern their features, 
displaying extreme terror and amazement, 
while every limb appeared to tremble as they 
moved." They were requested to cross a 
chasm, which separated them from the inter- 
preter, by a plank; but "appeared still much 
alarmed, and requested that Sackhouse (the 
interpreter) only should come over. He ac- 
cordingly passed to the opposite side, on which 
they earnestly beseeched him not to touch 
them, as, if he did, they should certainly die. 
After he had used many arguments to per- 
suade them that he was flesh and blood, the 
native, who had shown most courage, ventured 
to touch his hand ; then, pulling himself by the 
nose, set up a shout, in which he was joined by 
Sackhouse and the other three. The presents 
were then distributed, consisting of two or 
three articles of clothing, and a few strings of 
beads. After which, Sackhouse exchanged his 
knife for one of theirs." 

Captain Ross and Lieutenant Parry then went 
on the ice, and, " by the time they reached it, 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



29 



the whole were assembled: those who had 
originally been left at a distance, with their 
sledges, having driven up to join their com- 
rades. The party now, therefore, consisted of 
eight natives, with all their sledges, and about 
fifty dogs, two sailors, Sackhouse, Lieutenant 
Parry, and myself— forming a group of no 
small singularity, not a little increased, also, by 
the peculiarity of the situation on a field of ice, 
far from the land. The noise and clamour may 
be easily conceived — the whole talking and 
shouting together, and the dogs howling, while 
the natives were flogging them with their long 
whips, to preserve order." Our arrival pro- 
duced considerable alarm, causing them to re- 
treat a few steps towards their sledges. On 
this, Sackhouse called to us to pull our noses, 
as he had discovered this to be the mode of 
friendly salutation among them. This cere- 
mony was accordingly performed by each of 
us, the natives, during their retreat, making use 
of the same gesture ; the nature of which we 
had not before understood." Presents were 
then made, and, " on seeing their faces in the 
glasses, their astonishment appeared extreme, 
and they looked round in silence, for a moment, 
at each other, and at us. Immediately after- 
wards, they set up a general shout, succeeded 
by a loud laugh, expressive of extreme delight 
as well as surprise — in which we joined, partly 
from inability to avoid it, and willing also to 
show that we were pleased with our new ac- 
quaintances." Confidence shortly after became 
3* 



30 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



established, and uncovering of heads was sub- 
stituted for pulling of noses — the natives ap- 
pearing to comprehend the nature of this cere- 
mony more quickly than the seamen did the 
other, and probably not considering it a much 
more reasonable, although a more inconvenient, 
testimony of respect. They were then invited 
to the ship, to which one of them thought pro- 
per to address a speech, "pausing between 
every question, and pulling his nose with the 
utmost solemnity " All the wonder to be ex- 
pected was here excited ; but the quantity of the 
wood and iron appeared to be the chief objects 
of surprise. 

"Their knowledge of wood seemed to be 
limited to some heath of a dwarfish growth, 
with stems no thicker than the finger; and, 
accordingly, they knew not what to think of 
the timber they saw on board. Not being 
aware of its weight, two or three of them, suc- 
cessively, seized on the spare topmast, evi- 
dently with the view of carrying it off ; and, as 
soon as they became familiar with the people 
around them, they showed that desire of pos- 
sessing what they admired, which is so uni- 
versal among savages. The only thing they 
looked upon with contempt, was a little terrier 
dog; — judging, no doubt, that it was too small 
for drawing a sledge. But they shrunk back, 
as if in terror, from a pig, whose pricked ears 
and ferocious aspect (being of the Shetland 
breed) presented a somewhat formidable ap- 
pearance This animal happening to grunt, 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



31 



one of them was so terrified, that he became, 
from that moment, uneasy, and appeared impa- 
tient to get out of the ship. In carrying his 
purpose into effect, however, he did not lose 
his propensity to thieving, as he seized and 
endeavoured to carry off the smith's anvil: 
finding that he could not remove it, he laid 
hold of the large hammer, threw it on the ice, 
and following it himself, deliberately set it on 
his sledge, and made off." 



32 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



A CHOCTAW COUNCIL. 



The conduct of the government of the United 
States towards the Indian tribes, however politic 
it may seem, is certainly not based upon the 
Christian precept " to do unto others as we would 
" that they should do unto us." All our proceed- 
ings towards them have tended to their gradual 
extirpation from the land of their birth. Our 
wars, our treaties, our purchases of land, our 
system of intercourse with them, have all the 
same end. The following extract will show 
how well the Indians understand this. 

(The reader will recollect, that it has become 
the settled policy of the United States to remove 
the several tribes of Indians to a country west 
of the Mississippi. In order to discuss and de- 
termine on this subject, in 1830 the Choctaw 
Indians held a council, in which it was resolved 
to sell off their lands to the United States, for 
one million of dollars, and to remove without 
the States, provided Government would give to 
each man a section of land, in fee simple, west 
of the Mississippi, and be at the expense of 
transporting the tribe to their place of destina- 
tion, and of supporting them twelve months 
after their arrival. The council sat four days, 
and the following is a short sketch of their 
proceedings : — 



• 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



33 



The National Council was organized in the 
afternoon of the 15th of March. This was a 
juncture of peculiar interest. To see the rulers 
of a people, preparing to decide upon a course 
in which their posterity, to the latest genera- 
tion, was deeply affected, could not but produce 
a deep and universal solemnity, and this inte- 
rest was greatly increased by the bitter tears 
shed by some of the females present. The 
voice of sorrow is always eloquent; but, at 
such a season, never could the female voice 
speak more forcibly the sympathies of our na- 
ture. Who could avoid exclaiming, <0, my 
native country ! Land of my fathers, I must 
leave thee V 

The Chief presented them with a concise 
view of the difficulties of their situation, and 
the alternatives which were before them, and 
the sad necessity of immediately making their 
selection. It was at the intimation, that a re- 
moval was one of the alternatives, that the 
women wept. 

The Chief was followed by an old Captain 
m the nation, who, in brief simplicity, recounted 
his sufferings as a warrior and captain, in fight- 
ing for his White brothers, under General Jack- 
son. He named several places where he had 
fought, and seen the Choctaws bleed and die. 
At that time, little did he think that his White 
brothers would ever make it necessary for him, 
in his old age, to leave his country, and the 
bones of his father. He would greatly prefer 
giving up his country, than submit to laws, the 



34 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



nature of which he could not learn, and among 
a people, the wicked part of whom would 
harass and ruin them. He expressed a belief 
that the President would give them a good 
treaty ; and, if he would do so, aged as he was, 
he would give his voice to go to their lands 
west of the Mississippi — and, moreover, ex- 
pressed his belief, that the Great Father above, 
would go with them, and bless them in their 
new home. 

A Captain of the eastern part of the nation, 
next came forward. He appeared many years 
in advance of the first speaker. His white 
head, palsied limbs, and tremulous voice, made 
him an object of deepest interest. He was said 
to have been a warrior under General Wayne. 
He recounted some of the scenes of his past 
life, and the hopes which had borne him on- 
ward in his course ; — he touched upon the dis- 
appointment that had clouded his setting sun ; 
but, awakening, as if by supernatural power, 
he spoke boldly of his confidence in his Great 
Father above, and expressed his full assurance, 
that He would accompany his nation, and bless 
them. The discussion continued until a late 
hour of the fourth day, when the vote was 
taken, and found in favour of emigration. 



i 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



35 



THE YOUNG INDIAN CHIEF,* 

This young warrior, of fine size, figure and 
countenance, is now about 25 years old. At 
the age of 21 his heroic deeds had acquired for 
him in his nation the rank of " bravest of the 
brave." The savage practice of torturing and 
burning to death their prisoners existed in this 
nation. An unfortunate female taken in war, 
of the Paduca nation, was destined to this hor- 
rible death. The fatal hour had arrived, the 
trembling victim, far from her home and her 
friends, was fastened to the stake ; the whole 
tribe was assembled on the surrounding plain 
to witness the awful scene. Just when the fire 
was about to be kindled, and the spectators on 
the tiptoe of expectation, this young warrior, 
who sat composedly among the chiefs, having 
before prepared two fleet horses, with the ne- 
cessary provisions, sprung from his seat, rushed 
through the crowd, loosed the victim, seized 
her in his arms, placed her on one of the 
horses, mounted the other himself, and made 
the utmost speed towards the nation and friends 
of the captive. The multitude, dumb and 
nerveless with amazement at the daring deed, 
made no effort to rescue their victim from her 

* This interesting fact of a young Indian Chief of the 
Pawnee nation, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, who was 
on a visit to Washington in the winter of 1824, is extracted 
from a letter of the Rev. Richard Reece, to the editor of the 
London Wesleyan Methodist Magazine. 



36 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



deliverer. They viewed it as an act of the 
Great Spirit, submitted to it without a murmur, 
and quietly returned to their village. The re- 
leased captive was accompanied through the 
wilderness towards her home, till she was out 
of danger. He then gave her the horse on 
which she rode, with the necessary provisions 
for the remainder of the journey, and they 
parted. On his return to the village, such way 
the respect entertained for him, that no inquiry 
was made into his conduct; no censure was 
passed on it, and since the transaction, no hu- 
man sacrifice has been offered in this or any 
other of the Pawnee tribes. Of what influence 
is one bold act in a good cause ! 

On the publication of this anecdote at Wash- 
ington, the young ladies of Miss White's Semi- 
nary, in that city, presented that brave and hu- 
mane Indian with a handsome silver medal, on 
which was engraven an appropriate inscription, 
accompanied by an address, of which the fol- 
lowing is the close: — "Brother, accept this 
token of our esteem ; always wear it for our 
sake ; and when you have again the power to 
save a poor woman from death and torture, 
think of this, and of us, and fly to her rescue." 

RED JACKET. 

It happened during the Revolutionary war, 
that a treaty was held with the Indians, at 
which La Fayette was present. The object 
was to unite the various tribes in amity with 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



37 



America. The majority of the Chiefs were 
friendly, but there was much opposition made 
to it, more especially by a young warrior, who 
declared that when an alliance was entered into 
with America, he should consider the sun of 
his country as set forever. In his travels 
through the Indian country, when lately in 
America, it happened at a large assemblage of 
Chiefs, that La Fayette referred to the treaty in 
question, and turning to Red Jacket, said, " pray 
tell me if you can, what has become of that 
daring youth, who so decidedly opposed all our 
propositions for peace and amity? Does he 
still live — and what is his condition ?" " I, my- 
self, am the man," replied Red Jacket, "the 
decided enemy of the Americans, as long as the 
hope of opposing them with success remained, 
but now their true and faithful ally until death." 

INDIAN MODE OF GETTING A WIFE. 

An aged Indian, who for many years had 
spent much of his time among the white people 
both in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, one day, 
about the year 1770, observed, that the Indians 
had not only a much easier way of getting a 
wife than the whites, but were also more cer- 
tain of getting a good one ; 6 for (said he in his 
broken English) 6 white man court — court — 
may be one whole year !— may be two before 
he marry !— well ! — may be then get very good 
wife — but, may be not — may be very cross r 
4 



38 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



Well now, suppose cross! Scold so soon sje 
get awake in the morning ! Scold all day I 
Scold until sleep! — all one; he must keep him! 
White people have law forbidding throwing 
away wife, be he ever so cross ! must keep him 
always ! Well ? how does Indian do ? Indian 
when he see industrious squaw, which he like, 
he go to him, place his two fore-fingers close 
aside each other, make two look like one — look 
squaw in the face — see him smile — which is 
all one he say, yes ! so he take him home — no 
danger he be cross ! no ! no ! Squaw know 
too well what Indian do if he be cross ! — throw 
him away and take another ! Squaw love to eat 
meat ! no husband ! no meat ! Squaw do every 
thing to please husband; he do the same to 
please squaw ! live happy !' 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



39 



f SHENANDOH, THE ONEIDA CHIEF. J r ( 

Although the dignity of a chief is hereditary 
in his family, generally, the aristocracy of the 
Indians is not one of birth merely, nor one 
of wealth ; but it is an aristocracy of merit. A 
chief is liable to be deposed for misconduct; 
and a brave warrior takes his place on account 
of the actions he has performed. Among those 
who have maintained an ascendancy among 
their countrymen by the force of individual 
merit, none is more remarkable than Shenandoh, 
the Oneida chief. 

This celebrated chief, whose life measured a 
century, died in 1816. He was well known in 
the wars which occurred while the United 
States were British colonies ; and, also, in the 
war of the Revolution — as the undeviating 
friend of the Americans. 

In his youth he was very savage, and ad- 
dicted to drunkenness; but, by the force of 
reflection, and the benevolent exhortations of a 
missionary to the tribe, he lived a reformed 
man for more than sixty years, and died in 
Christian hope.* 

* In 1775 Shenandoh was present at a treaty made in 
Albany. At night he was excessively drunk; and in the 
morning-, found himself in the street, stripped of all his orna- 
ments, and every article of clothing. His pride revolted at 
his self-degradation, and he resolved never more to deliver 
himself over to the power of 4 strong water.* 



40 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



Shenandoh's person was tali and muscular , 
but well made— his countenance was intelli- 
gent, and beamed with all the ingenuous dig- 
nity of an Indian Chief. In youth, he was 
brave and intrepid— in his riper years, one of 
the ablest counsellors among the North Ameri 
can tribes. He possessed a strong and vigor 
ous mind ; and, though terrible as the tornado, 
in war — he was bland and mild as the zephyr, 
in peace. With the cunning of the fox, the 
hungry perseverance of the wolf, and the 
agility of the mountain cat, he watched and 
repelled Canadian invasions. His vigilance 
once preserved from massacre the inhabitants 
of the then infant settlements of the German 
Flats. His influence brought his tribe to assist 
the Americans, in their war of the Revolution. 
His many friendly actions in their behalf, 
gained for him, among the Indian tribes, the 
appellation of the 'i White Man's Friend.'/ 

To a friend who called to see him, in his wane 
(he was then blind), he thus expressed himself: 

" I am an aged hemlock— the winds of a 
hundred winters have whistled through my 
branches — I am dead at the top. The genera- 
tion to which I belonged have run away and 
left me. Why / live, the Great Spirit alone 
knows ! Pray to my Jesus that I may have 
patience to wait for my appointed time to die.'> 

* Indulge my native land ; indulge the tear 

That steals impassioned o'er the nation's doom : 
To me each twig from Adam's stock is near, 
And sorrows fall upon an Indian's tomb/ 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



41 



INDIAN GRATITUDE AND WIT. 

Soon after Litchfield began to be settled by 
the English, an unknown Indian came into the 
inn at dusk, and requested the hostess to fur- 
nish him with food and drink ; stating, that he 
had had no success in hunting, and could not pay 
till he had better fortune. The woman refused; 
calling him a lazy, drunken, good-for-nothing 
fellow. A man who sat by, noticed the Indian 
as he turned away from the inhospitable place, 
and perceiving that he was suffering very se- 
verely from want and weariness, he generously 
ordered the hostess to furnish him with a good 
supper, and call on him for payment. After 
the Indian had finished his meal, he thanked 
his benefactor again and again, and assured 
him he should never forget his kindness, and 
would, if it were ever in his power, faithfully 
recompense it. He observed, that he had one 
more favor to ask ; if the woman was willing, 
he wished to tell a story. The hostess, whose 
good nature had been restored by money, 
readily consented. The Indian, addressing his 
benefactor, said, "I suppose you read the 
Bible ?" The man assented. " Well, the Bible 
says, God make the world ; and then he took 
him, and looked on him, and say 'all very 
good/ Then he made light; and took him, 
and looked on him, and say, 6 all very good.' 
Then he made land and water, sun and moon, 

4. 



42 



INDIAN ANECDOTES* 



grass and trees; and he took him, and looked 
on him, and say, 'all very good/ Then he 
made beasts, and birds, and fishes; and he 
took him, and looked on him, and say, 'all 
very good/ Then he made man; and took 
him, and looked on him, and say, fi all very 
good/ Then he made woman ; and took him, 

and looked at him, and he no dare say 

one such word." 

Many years after this, the Indian's bene- 
factor was taken prisoner by an Indian scout, 
and carried into Canada. He was saved from 
death by one of the tribe, who asked leave to 
adopt him in the place of a son, who had 
fallen in battle. Through the winter, he expe- 
rienced the customary effects of savage hospi- 
tality. The following summer as he was at 
work in the forest alone, an unknown Indian 
came to him and appointed a meeting at a cer- 
tain place, on a given day. The prisoner con- 
sented ; but afterwards, fearing mischief might 
be intended, he neglected the engagement. 
The Indian again sought him, reproved him 
for his want of confidence in him, and assured 
him the meeting would be for his good. En- 
couraged by his apparent friendship, the man 
followed his directions. He found the Indian 
provided with muskets, ammunition, and knap- 
sacks. The Indian ordered him to arm him- 
self and follow him. Their course was to 
wards the south, and day after day the Eng- 
lishman followed, without being able to con- 
jecture the motives of his guide. After * 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



43 



tedious journey, he arrived at the top of an 
eminence, commanding a view of a country 
somewhat cultivated and populous. " Do you 
know that country ?" said the Indian, with an 
arch smile. "Oh, yes! it is Litchfield," replied 
the white man, as he cordially pressed his 
hand. " Many years ago, you give weary In- 
dian supper there/' said he. " He promise to 
pay you, and he pay you now. Go home, and 
be happy." 

HEAD WORK. 

Colonel Dudley, governor of Massachusetts, 
in the beginning of the last century, had a 
number of workmen employed in building him 
a house on his plantation ; and one day as he 
was looking at them, he observed a stout In- 
dian, who, though the weather was very cold, 
was a naked as well as an idle spectator. 
6 Hark ye, friend,' said the governor, < why don't 
you work like these men, and get clothes to 
cover you?' 'And why you no work, go- 
vernor?' replied the Indian. 'I work,' an- 
swered the governor, putting his finger on his 
forehead, 6 with my head, and therefore need 
not work with my hands.' 6 Well,' replied the 
Indian, 6 and if I would work, what have you 
for me to do ?' < Go kill me a calf,' said the 
governor, 6 and I will give you a shilling.' The 
Indian did so. The governor asked him why 
he did not skin and dress it. ' Calf dead, go- 



44 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



vernor — give me my shilling ; give me another/ 
said the Indian, 'and I will skin and dress it.' 
This was complied with. The Indian then 
went to a tavern with his two shillings, and 
soon spending one for rum, returned to the 
governor, saying, 6 Your shilling bad, the man 
no take it.' The governor believing him, gave 
him another ; but soon returning in the same 
manner, with the second, the governor dis- 
cerned his roguery; however, he exchanged 
that also, reserving his resentment for a proper 
opportunity. To be prepared for it, the go- 
vernor wrote a letter directed to the keeper of 
Bridewell, in Boston, requesting him to take 
the bearer and give him a sound whipping. 
This he kept in his pocket, and in the course of 
a few days the Indian came again to stare at 
the workmen ; the governor took no notice of 
him for some time, but at length taking the let- 
ter out of his pocket, and calling the Indian to 
him, said, 6 1 will give you half a crown if you 
will carry this letter to Boston.' The Indian 
closed with his proposal, and set out on his 
journey. He had not gone far, before he met 
with another Indian in the employ of the go- 
vernor, to whom he gave the letter, and told 
him that the governor had sent him to meet 
him, and to bid him return with that letter to 
Boston, as soon as he possibly could. 

The poor fellow carried it with great dili- 
gence, and received a severe flogging for his 
pains ; at the news of which, the governor was 
not a little astonished on his return. The other 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



45 



Indian came no more ; but, after the lapse of 
some months, at a meeting with some of his 
nation, the governor saw him there among the 
rest, and asked him how he durst serve him 
such a trick ? The Indian looking him full in 
the face, and putting his forefinger to his fore- 
head, replied, (Head work ! governor, head 
work \l 

MAGNANIMITY AND DISINTERESTED 
GENEROSITY : 

WITH STRIKING TRAITS IN THE SAVAGE CHARACTER. 

The Pawnee Loups (Wolf Pawnees) a tribe 
of Missouri savages, lately exhibited the ano- 
maly among the American aborigines of a peo- 
ple addicted to the superstitious rite of offering 
human victims, in propitiation of ' Venus, the 
Great Star. 9 The inhuman ceremony was 
annually performed at the period immediately 
preceding their horticultural operations, in order 
to insure a bountiful return from the earth : — 
the neglect of which duty, it was believed, 
would occasion a total failure of crops. To ob- 
viate, therefore, a national calamity so formi- 
dable, any person was at liberty to offer up a 
prisoner, of either sex, whom the fortune of 
war had placed in his power. 

The devoted individual was clad in the gay- 
est attire, pampered with a profusion of the 
choicest food, and constantly attended by the 
conjurers, alias priests, who anticipated all his 



46 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



wants — cautiously concealed from him the real 
object of their sedulous attentions — and endea- 
voured to preserve his mind in a state of cheer- 
ful composure : — with the view of promoting 
obesity, and thus rendering the sacrifice more 
acceptable to their Ceres. 

When the victim was sufficiently fattened, a 
day was appointed for the sacrifice, that all 
might attend the celebration. In the presence 
of the assembled multitude, he was bound to a 
cross; a solemn dance was performed; and, 
after certain ceremonies, the warrior who had 
captured him, cleft his head with a tomahawk ; 
and, at the same moment, numerous arrows 
were discharged at the body. 

It appears, this barbarous rite has lately been 
abolished. Latelesha, or Knife Chief, principal 
of the nation, having long regarded this sacri- 
fice as cruel and unnecessary, had vainly en- 
deavoured to wean his countrymen from the 
observance of it. At length an Iotan woman, 
brought captive into the village, was doomed to 
the Great Star. Having undergone the neces- 
sary treatment, she was bound to the cross. At 
this critical juncture, Petalesharoo, son of La- 
telesha, stepped forward, and declared, that it 
was his father's wish to abolish a custom so in- 
human ; that, for his part, he was determined i 
to release the victim, at the risk of his life. He 
now cut the cords that bound her, carried her 
swiftly through the crowd, and placed her on a 
horse ; mounted another himself, and conveyed 
her beyond the reach of pursuit. 



I 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



Notwithstanding the success of this enter- 
prise, it was reserved for another display of the 
firmness of this young warrior, to abolish the 
sanguinary sacrifice — we hope for ever. The 
succeeding spring, a Spanish boy was captured, 
and confided, by the warrior who took him, to 
the priests, to undergo the usual preparation for 
sacrifice. The Knife Chief consulted with his 
son how to avoid the repetition of the horrible 
rite. "/ will rescue the boy," said Petalesha- 
roo, " as a warrior ought — by force." But the 
father, unwilling that his son should again ex- 
pose himself to imminent danger, devised other 
means for rescuing the devoted victim : — that 
is, by ransom. For this purpose he repaired to 
a Mr. Pappon, then trading in the village, who 
generously contributed a quantity of mer- 
chandize. Other contributions were added by 
the Knife Chief himself, and by Petalesharoo, 
and other Indians. The whole was laid up in 
a heap, in the Chieftain's lodge, and the war- 
rior was summoned to attend. 

Latelesha, armed with his war-club, com- 
manded the warrior to accept of the mer- 
chandize, as a ransom for the boy, or prepare 
for instant death. The warrior refused to com- 
ply : the chief flourished his club in the air. 
"Strike I" said Petalesharoo, "I will meet the 
vengeance of his friends." But the more po- 
litic Chief preferred adding to the mass of mer- 
chandize a few more articles, in order to give 
the warrior another opportunity of complying, 
without breaking his word. The expedient 



48 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



succeeded. The goods were reluctantly ac- 
cepted 5 the boy was liberated, and afterwards 
conducted to St. Louis by the traders. The 
merchandize was sacrificed in his place : the 
cloth was cut in shreds, and suspended on poles, 
and many of the valuables were consumed by 
fire, to appease and propitiate the Indian Ceres 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



49 



TECUMSEH, WHEN A YOUTH. 

Tecumseh .was one of the most remarkable 
men that has ever figured in our aboriginal 
history. He gained an ascendancy over the 
minds of his countrymen entirely by the com- 
manding force of his character, and the persua- 
sive power of his eloquence. These instruments 
enabled him to produce a degree of union and 
combination among the North-western tribes, by 
no means less remarkable than the confederacies 
which signalized the times of king Philip and of 
Pontiac. His brother, the prophet, was a pusil- 
lanimous driveller, compared with Tecumseh ; 
and exerted all his influence by addressing the 
superstitious fears of his countrymen ; whei eas 
the great warrior addressed himself to the 
higher principles of their nature, and made suc- 
cessful appeals to their reason, and even to their 
humanity. Of the last we have a signal exam- 
ple in his arresting the massacre of the American 
prisoners at Fort Meigs. 

It has somewhere been observed, that "every 
circumstance relating to this extraordinary man 
will be read with interest." We believe it, and 
therefore proceed with the following account, 
which appeared in a western periodical of 1826. 

"About thirty years ago (as the writer re- 
ceived the narrative from Captain Thomas 
Bryan, of Kentucky) the said Bryan was em- 
ployed as a surveyor of the Virginia Military 
Lands, northwest of the Ohio river. While 
engaged in completing a chain of surveys, ex- 

5 



50 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



tending from the head waters of Brush Creek 
to those of Paint Creek (now the central part 
of the State of Ohio), his provisions became 
scant, and at length entirely exhausted. He 
directed his hunter — who had been unsuccess- 
ful on a recent excursion — to make another 
attempt to procure subsistence, and to meet 
him at a particular point then designated; 
where, after closing the labour of the day, he 
should encamp with his chain-men and marker. 

"Towards evening, the men became ex- 
hausted with hunger. They were in the heart 
of a solitary wilderness, and every circum- 
stance was calculated to produce the greatest 
dejection of spirit. After making great exer- 
tions to reach the point designated, where they 
were to encamp upon their arrival, they met 
their hunter, who had been again unsuccessful. 
Feeling for himself and his comrades every 
emotion of a noble heart, he was alarmed for 
their situation. The hunter declared he had 
used every exertion in pursuit of game, but all 
his attempts were of no avail ; that the whole 
forest appeared to him to be entirety destitute 
both of birds and beasts ! Under these awful 
apprehensions of starvation, he knew that it 
would be a vain attempt to reach the settle- 
ment ; — he trembled, and shed tears. Captain 
Bryan, at this critical juncture, felt his spirits 
roused at the reflection of their desperate situa- 
tion; he thrust his jacob-staff in the earth, and 
ordered his men to prepare a camp, and make 
a good fire ; he seizes the gun and ammunition 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 51 



of the unsuccessful hunter, and darted forth in 
pursuit of game. The weather had become 
exceedingly cold, for it was in the depth of 
winter — every rivulet was bound in ice. He 
had not proceeded far before he was gratified 
with the cheering sight of three elks, making 
towards him. He succeeded in killing two, 
and, shortly after, a bear. He now called for 
his men, and ordered his game to be carried to 
the camp. No one, but those similarly situated, 
can conceive the feelings excited on such an 
occasion. 

But, perilous as the situation of the surveyor 
and his party might appear, there were others 
who were threatened with the like appalling 
distress. Three or four Indians, who had been 
out on a hunting excursion, hearing the re- 
port of Captain Bryan's gun, made immediately 
in that direction, and had arrived at the camp 
before Bryan returned. On his appearance 
there, they informed him, as well as they could 
(some of them speaking a little English), of 
their wretched situation. They told him that, 
for three days, their whole party had subsisted 
on one skunk, and that was exhausted. They 
described the absence of the game, in the lan- 
guage of the hunter, as if " the whole forest 
was entirely destitute both of birds and beasts" 
They were informed by Captain Bryan, that he 
had plenty for himself, his men, and them- 
selves ; desired them to fix their camp, make a 
good fire, and assist his men in flaying the bear 
and elks, which were now brought into camp — 



52 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



and then to cut, carve, and cook for themselves. 
Their very looks were expressive of the joy 
they now felt for a deliverance so unexpected— 
nor did they spare the provisions. Their hun- 
ger was such, that, as soon as one round was 
served, another — another — and another, in suc- 
cession — was greedily devoured. 
/~A fine-looking, tall, dignified savage, then 
approached the surveyor's camp — rather young 
in appearance than otherwise. He very grace- 
fully stepped up to Captain Bryan (who was 
now reposing in his camp, on account of rheu- 
matism, occasioned by his recent exposure), 
and informed him, that the old man in his 
camp was a Chief; that he felt under great 
obligations to the Great and Good Spirit for so 
signal an interposition in their favour ; that he 
was about to make a prayer, and address the 
Good Spirit, and thank him : that it was the 
custom, on such occasions, for the Indians to 
stand up in their camp ; and that his Chief re- 
quested the captain and his men, to conform, 
in like manner, by standing up in their camp. 
The captain replied, that his men would all 
conform, and order should be preserved ; but, 
as for himself, his affliction would compel him 
to keep his seat — but this must not be con- 
strued into disrespect. The captain remarked 
to me, that he was not himself a religious cha- 
racter, though a man of feeling. 

The old Chief raised himself upon his feet, 
as did those around him; and, lifting up his 
hands, commenced his prayer and thanksgiving 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



53 



with an audible voice. And such an address 
to Diety, on such an occasion — as far as I could 
understand him — I never before heard flow 
from mortal lips ! The tone — the modulation 
of his voice — the gestures — all corresponded to 
make a very deep impression upon us. In the 
course of his thanksgiving — as I gathered from 
the Indians — he recapitulated the doleful situa- 
tion in which they were so recently placed — 
the awful horrors of starvation, with which 
they were threatened — the vain attempts they 
had made to procure food, until He, the Great 
and Good Spirit, had sent that good White 
man, and had crowned his exertions with suc- 
cess ; and so directed him and them to meet, 
and to find plenty." Who can fully describe 
the abundant overflowings of a grateful heart? 
He continued in this vehement strain for about 
half an hour, "when," remarked Captain B., 
"my own men reflecting on their own recent 
situation, retrospecting what had taken place, 
and beholding the pious gratitude of a 6 Child 
of the Forest/ feeling the same sensations, they 
were melted into tenderness — if not into tears." 

The person who so gracefully addressed 
Captain Bryan, in behalf of his Chief, was 
Tecumseh. 



5* 



54 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



INDIAN LOGIC.* 

A few years since, whilst the mistaken zeal 
of many good men, led them to think that their 
red brethren of the forest might be Christian- 
ized before they were civilized, — a missionary 
was sent out among them to convert them to 
the Christian faith. The missionary was un- 
fortunately one of those preachers who delight 
in speculative and abstruse doctrines, and who 
teach the inefficacy of all human exertions in 
obtaining salvation. He called the Indians to- 
gether to hear what he called the Gospel. The 
Sachem or Chief of the tribe to which he was 
sent, came with the rest. The missionary in 
the course of his sermon, (which was upon the 
very simple and intelligible doctrine of election) 
undertook to prove, that some were made to be 
saved, and some to be damned, without any 
regard to their good or bad conduct. As an 
illustration of his doctrine, he cited the case of 
Jacob and Esau, and attempted to show that 
God loved the one and hated the other before 
either of them was born. The Sachem heard 
him attentively, and after meeting invited him 
to his wigwam. After some conversation, the 

* The Editor of the Indian Anecdotes, is not responsible 
for the sentiments, which any of the Anecdotes of this collec- 
tion may seem to illustrate. And although he has carefully 
omitted such as would tend to corrupt, or exert an immoral 
influence on the character ; he disclaims every political or 
religious partiality. The above has been introduced as an 
interesting specimen of Indian logic. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 55 

Sachem thus addressed the Missionary : " Sir/ 
me tell you a story : My wife have two boys, 
twins ; both of them as pretty as the two you 
tell me about to-day. One of them she love 
and feed him; the other she let lie on the 
ground crying. I tell her take him up, or he 
die. She no mind me. Pretty soon he die. 
Now what shall I do to her?" — Why, said the 
Missionary, she ought to be hung ! — " Well," 
said the Sachem, " then you go home and hang 
your God, for you say he do just so. You no 
preach any more here, unless you preach more 
good than this." The Missionary finding him- 
self amongst a people too enlightened to give 
credence to his narrow and heart-revolting prin- 
ciples, thought it expedient to seek a new field 
of labor. 



THE INDIAN AND THE DUTCH CLERGYMAN. 

A Dutch clergyman in the then province of 
New York, 1745, asked an Indian, whom he 
had baptized, whether he had been in Sheko- 
meko, and had heard the Moravian missionary 
preach, and how he liked him ? The Indian 
answered, 6 That he had been there, and had 
attended to the missionary's words, and liked 
to hear them; that he would rather hear the 
missionary than him, for when the former 
spoke, it was as though his words laid hold of 
his heart, and a voice within said, 6 that is 
truth but that he was always playing about 



56 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



the truth, and never came to the point. That 
he had no love for their souls, for when he had 
once baptized them, he let them run wiLd, never 
troubling himself any further about them. That 
he acted much worse than one who planted 
Indian corn ; for, added he, 6 the planter some- 
times goes to see whether his corn grows or not/ 

f 

"INDIAN, WHO IS YOUR CAPTAIN ? 99 

An English captain, in the year 1759, who 
was beating up for recruits in the neighbour- 
hood of Bethlehem, met one day a Moravian 
Indian, and asked him whether 6 he had a mind 
to be a soldier/ 6 No/ answered he, 6 1 am 
already engaged/ 'Who is your captain V 
asked the officer. 6 1 have a very brave and 
excellent captain/ replied the Indian, 6 his name 
is Jesus Christ ; Him will I serve as long as I 
live : my life is at his disposal / upon which 
the British officer suffered him to pass un- 
molested, tp 

INDIAN BON MOT. 

One of the Moravian Indians who had been 
baptized by the name of Jonathan, meeting 
some white people, who had entered into so 
violent a dispute about baptism and the holy 
communion, that they at last proceeded to 
blows — 6 These people/ said he, ' know nothing 
of our Saviour; for they speak of Him as we 
do of a strange country/ 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



57 



INDIAN FIDELITY. 

Some time after the commencement of the 
Revolutionary war, when the northern Indians 
were beginning to make inroads on the people 
living on the east side of the Ohio river, Gene- 
ral O'Hara having come out to the upper Mo- 
ravian town, on the Muskingum, on business, 
and there taken lodging with a respectable and 
decent family of Indians in the village — I had 
one evening scarcely laid down to sleep when 
I was suddenly roused from my bed by an In- 
dian runner, (or messenger) who in the night 
had been sent to me, 9 miles, with the following 
verbal message : " My friend, see that our friend 
O'Hara, now at your town, be immediately 
taken off to the settlement of white people, 
avoiding all paths leading to that river. Fail 
not in taking my advice, for there is no time to 
lose — and hear my son further on the subject/ 5 

The fact was, that eleven warriors from San- 
dusky, were far advanced on their way to take 
or murder O'Hara ; who at break of day would 
be at this place for the purpose. I immediately 
sent for this gentleman, and told him that I 
would furnish him with a conductor, on whom 
he might depend, and having sent for Anthony, 
(otherwise called Luke Holland) informed him 
of the circumstance and requested his services : 
he (the Indian) wished first to know, whether 
my friend placed confidence in him, and trusted 
to his fidelity ; which question being answered 



58 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



oy O'Hara himself, and to his full satisfaction ; 
he replied, 6 well, our lives cannot be separated ! 
we must stand or fall together ! but take cou- 
rage, for no enemy shall discover us V 

The Indian then took Mr. O'Hara through 
the woods, and arriving within a short distance 
of the Ohio river, pointed out to him a hiding 
place, until he, by strolling up and down the 
river, should discover white people on the op- 
posite shore ; when finally observing a house 
where two white men were cleaning out a 
canoe for use, he hurried back to bring on his 
friend, who, when near the spot, advised his 
Indian conductor to hide himself, knowing those 
people to be bad men, he feared they might kill 
him, for his services. The Indian finally seeing 
his friend safe across the river, returned and 
made report thereof. 

The young Indian, who had been the bearer 
of the message from his father to me, had im- 
mediately returned on seeing O'Hara off, in 
order to play a further deception on the war 
party, for the purpose of preventing them even 
from going to our town, fearing, that if there, 
and not finding their object, they might pro- 
bably hunt for his track, and finding this, pur- 
sue him. He indeed effected his purpose so 
completely, that while they were looking for 
him in one direction, his conductor was taking 
him off in another. 

The father of the young lad, who was the 
principal cause that O'Hara's life had been 
saved, had long been admired by all who knew 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



59 



him for his philanthropy ; on account of which 
the traders had given him the name of " the 
gentleman" Otherwise this Indian was not 
in connection with the Christian Indian Society, 
though a friend to them. He lived with his 
family retired and in a decent manner. 

While I feel a delight in offering to the rela- 
tives and friends of the deceased, as also to the 
public, this true and faithful picture of Indian 
fidelity — I regret that, on necessarily having 
had to recur to the names 6 Anthony' and 6 Luke 
Holland/ I am drawn from scenes of pleasure, 
to crimes of the blackest hue. The very Indian 
just named, who at that time joyfully reported 
to me his having conducted his friend out of 
danger, to a place of safety, some years after 
approached me with the doleful news that 
every one of his children, (all minors) together 
with his hoary headed parents, had been mur- 
dered by the white people, at Gradenhutten, on 
the Muskingum. john heckelwelder. 

INDIAN HOSPITALITY. 

I can give, says Golden, in his history of the 
five Indian Nations, two strong instances of the 
hospitality of the Mohawks, which fell under 
my own observation; and which will show, 
that they have the very same notion of hospi- 
tality which we find in the ancient poets. 
When I was last in the Mohawk's country, 
the sachems told me that they had an English- 



60 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



man among their people, a servant who had 
run away from his master in New York. I 
immediately told them they must deliver him 
up. 'No/ they answered, 6 we never serve 
any man so, who puts himself under our pro- 
tection.' On this I insisted on the injury they 
did thereby to his master: they allowed it 
might be an injury, and replied, < Though we 
will never deliver him up, we are willing to 
pay the value of the servant to the master.' 
Another man made his escape from the jail in 
Albany, where he was in prison on an execu- 
tion of debt : the Mohawks received him, and, 
as they protected him against the sheriff and 
officers they not only paid the debt for him, 
but gave him land over and above, sufficient 
for a good farm, whereon he lived when I was 
last there. 

t 

KINDNESS OF AN INDIAN HUSBAND. 

There was a famine in the land, and a sick 
Indian woman expressed a great desire for a 
mess of Indian corn. Her husband having 
heard that a trader at Lower Sandusky had a 
little, set off on horseback for that place, one 
hundred miles distant, and returned with as 
much corn as filled the crown of his hat, for 
which he gave his horse in exchange, and 
came home on foot, bringing his saddle back 
with him. 



I 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



61 



INDIAN RECORDS. 

At certain seasons the Indians meet to study 
the meaning, and renew their ideas of their 
strings and belts of wampum. On such occa- 
sions, they sit down around the place in which 
they are deposited, and taking out a string or 
belt, one after another, hand them to every 
person present ; and in order that they may all 
comprehend its meaning, repeat the words pro- 
nounced on the delivery, in their whole con- 
nexion. By these means they are enabled to 
remember the promises reciprocally made ; and, 
as they admit young boys who are related to 
the chiefs, they become early acquainted with 
all their national concerns ; and thus the con- 
tents of their wampum documents are trans- 
mitted to their posterity. The following in- 
stance may serve to show how well this mode 
of communication answers the purpose of re- 
freshing the memory : — A gentleman in Phila- 
delphia, once gave an Indian a string of wam- 
pum, saying, 6 1 am your friend, and will serve 
you to the utmost of my power/ Forty years 
after, the Indian returned the string, adding, 
* Brother, you gave me this string of wampum, 
saying, I am your friend, and will serve you to I 
the utmost of my power.' < I am now aged, 
infirm, and poor; do now as you promised/ 
The gentleman honourably redeemed his pro- 
mise, and generously assisted the old Indian. 
6 



62 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



BURNING OP BROOKFIELD. 

It has been remarked, that the history of every 
incursion of the Indians into the territory of the 
whites may be written in the words surprise, 
massacre, plunder and retreat They fall upon 
the defenceless village in the dead of night, " as 
falls the plague on men," or as the lightning 
falls on the forest. No vigilance seems to have 
been sufficient effectually to guard against these 
attacks, and no prudence or foresight could 
avert them. The Indians made their approaches 
to the isolated villages by creeping cautiously 
through the surrounding woods in the dead of 
night. The outposts w 7 ere seized, and the sen- 
tinels silently tomahawked, ere the warwhoop 
roused the sleeping families from their beds. 

During the early settlements of New Eng- 
land, the inhabitants suffered much from the 
incursions of the Indians. The most celebrated 
war, perhaps, which ever took place with the 
natives, however, was King Philip's war. 
During its continuance, the town of Brookfield, 
Massachusetts, was attacked. The inhabitants 
collected in one house which was immediately 
besieged by the savages, who set fire instantly 
to every other building in the town. For two 
days and nights the Indians shot upon the peo- 
ple in the house incessantly, but were met with 
a most determined defence on the part of the 
besieged. They then attempted to fire the 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



63 



house by flaming torches at the ends of long 
poles; but the garrison continued to defend 
themselves by firing from the windows, and 
throwing water upon the flames, as they fortu- 
nately had a pump within the house. These 
attempts failing, the Indians then prepared a cart 
loaded with flax, hemp, and other combustible 
matters, and under cover of a barricade of boards, 
thrust the burning mass, by means of long tim- 
bers, against the house. In this movement one 
of the wheels came off, which turned the ma- 
chine aside, and exposed the Indians to the fire 
of the garrison ; a shower of rain coming on at 
the same time extinguished the flames. Shortly 
afterwards a reinforcement of forty men arrived 
from Boston, forced their way through the 
enemy, and joined the garrison. The Indians 
then abandoned the siege and retired, having 
suffered a heavy loss. 

THE HEROIC COLLAPISSA. 

In the heart of the savage, there are some 
noble and redeeming qualities ; he can be 
faithful, even unto death, to the friend or the 
stranger who has dwelt beneath his roof, or 
sat under the shadow of the same tree. He 
can be generous also ; can endure all tortures, 
rather than show weakness or fear. 

" An instance of this occurred/' says Bossu, 
" when the French were in possession of New 
Orleans : a Chactaw, speaking very ill of them, 



64 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



said the Collapissas were their slaves ; one of 
the latter, vexed at such words, killed him with 
his gun. The nation of Chactaws, the greatest 
and most numerous on the continent, armed 
immediately, and sent deputies to New Orleans 
to ask for the head of the murderer, who had 
put himself under the protection of the French. 
They offered presents to make up the quarrel, 
but the cruel people would not accept any ! 
they even threatened to destroy the village of 
the Collapissas. To prevent the effusion of 
blood, the unhappy Indian was delivered up to 
them : the Sieur Ferrand was charged with the 
commission. The Indian was called Tichou ; 
he stood upright in the midst of his own people 
and of his enemies, and said, " I am a true man, 
that is, I do not fear death ; but I pity the fate 
of a wife and four children, whom I leave be- 
hind me very young; and of my father and 
mother, who are old, and for whom I got sub- 
sistence by hunting." (He was the best hunter 
in the nation.) 

He had hardly spoken the last word of this 
short speech, when his father, penetrated with 
his son's love, rose amidst the people, and 
spoke as follows : — 

"It is through courage that my son dies; 
but, being young and full of vigour, he is more 
fit than myself to provide for his mother, wife, 
and four little children : it is therefore necessary 
he should stay on earth to take care of them. 
As to myself, I am near the end of my career ; 
I am no longer fit for anything: I cannot go 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



65 



like the roebuck, whose course is like the 
winds, unseen; I cannot sleep like the hare, 
with my ears never shut ; but I have lived as 
a man, and will die as such, therefore I go to 
take his place." 

At these words, his wife, his son, his daugh- 
ter-in-law, and their little children, shed tears 
round the brave old man : he embraced them 
for the last time. The relations of the dead 
Chactaw accepted the offer ; after that, he laid 
himself on the trunk of a tree, and his head 
was cut off with one stroke of a hatchet. 
Every thing was made up by this death ; but 
the young man was obliged to give them his 
father's head: in taking it up, he said to it, 
" Pardon me thy death, and remember me in 
the country of spirits." 

All the French who assisted at this event 
were moved even to tears, and admired this 
noble old man. A people among whom such 
things could be done, hardly deserved the 
sweeping censures of Mather and other good 
men, who painted them rather as fiends in 
human shape. Courage is, of course, the vir- 
tue held in most honour : those who run away 
or desert in an action are not punished, they 
are considered as the disgrace of human na- 
ture : the ugliest girls will not accept of them 
for husbands : they are obliged to let their hair 
grow, and to wear an alcoman, or apron, like 
the women. "I saw one of them," says Bossu, 
who dwelt a long time among the Indians, 
" who, being ashamed of his figure, went by 
6* 



66 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



himself to fight the Chicachas, for his misery 
was more than he could bear : for three or four 
days he went on creeping like a snake, and 
hiding himself in the great grass, without eat- 
ing or drinking ; so he came to their country, 
and watched a long time to do some exploit ; 
often lying down in the rushes, when his ene- 
mies came near, and putting out his head 
above the water from time to time, to take 
breath. At last he drew near a village in the 
night, cried the cry of death, killed one of the 
people, and then fled with the speed of an 
arrow. He was out three months upon this 
expedition : when he drew nigh to his own 
village, weary, and bearing the head of his 
enemy, they came down the hill to meet him. 
The women were loud in his praises — the 
warriors gathered round him; and then they 
gave him a wife." 

JOHN ELIOT'S FIRST MISSION TO THE INDIANS. 

On the 28th of October, 1646, Eliot set out 
from his home, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 
company with three friends, to the nearest In- 
dian settlement : he had previously sent to give 
this tribe notice of his coming, and a very large 
number was collected from all quarters. If the 
savages expected the coming of their guest, of 
whose name they had often heard, to be like 
that of a warrior or sachem, they were greatly 
deceived. They saw Eliot on foot, drawing 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



67 



near, with his companions ; his translation of 
the scriptures, like a calumet of peace and love, 
in his hand. He was met by their chief, Wau- 
bon, who conducted him to a large wigwam 
After a short rest, Eliot went into the open air 
and standing on a grassy mound, while the peo- 
ple formed around him in all the stillness of 
strong surprise and curiosity, he prayed in the 
English tongue, as if he could not address hea- 
ven in a language both strange and new. And 
then he preached for an hour in their own 
tongue, and gave a clear and simple account of 
the religion of Christ, of his character and life, 
of the blessed state of those who believed in 
him. 

Of what avail would it have been to set be- 
fore this listening people the terrors of the 
Almighty, and the doom of the guilty ? This 
wise man knew, by long experience as a min- 
ister, that the heart loves better to be persuaded 
than terrified — to be melted than alarmed. The 
whole career of the Indian's life tended to 
freeze up the finer and softer feelings, and make 
the more dark and painful passions familiar to 
him. He resolved to strike a new chord, and 
when he saw the tear stream down their stern 
faces, and the haughty head sink low on the 
breast, as he painted the ineffable love of 
Christ, he said it was " a glorious and affecting 
spectacle to see a company of perishing forlorn 
outcasts, so drinking in the word of salvation." 
The impressions this discourse produced, were 
of a very favourable nature : as far as the chief, 



68 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



Waubon, was concerned, they were never 
effaced. Afterwards the guest passed several 
hours conversing with the Indians, and answer- 
ing their questions. When night came, he re- 
turned to the tent with the chief, and the peo- 
ple entered their wigwams, or lay down around, 
and slept on the grass. What were Eliot's feel- 
ings on this night? At last, the longing of 
years was accomplished ; the fruit of his 
prayers was given to him. 

« Could the walls of his loved study speak," 
says his friend, " they would tell of the entrea- 
ties poured forth before the Lord, of the days 
and nights set apart with fasting — that thus, 
thus it might be." A few of the chiefs' friends 
alone remained, after the people were retired. 
One of the Christians perceived an Indian, who 
was hanging down his head, weeping; the 
former went to him, and spoke encouraging 
words, after which he turned his face to the 
wall, and wept yet more abundantly: soon 
after, he rose and went out. " When they told 
me of his tears/' said Eliot, " we resolved to go 
forth, and follow him into the wood, and speak 
to him. The proud Indian's spirit was quite 
broken : at last we parted, greatly rejoicing for 
such sorrowing." 

He now^ resolved to continue his labours ; 
but, on the' 26th of November, when he met 
the assembly of the Indians for the third time, 
he found that, though many of them had con- 
structed wigwams at the place of meeting, for 
the more readily attending his ministry, his 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



69 



audience was not so numerous as on the former 
occasions. The Powahs (or soothsayers) had 
strictly charged the people not to listen to the 
instructions of the English, and threatened them 
with death in case of disobedience. Having 
warned his auditors against the impositions of 
these men, he proceeded to discourse as for- 
merly, and was heard with the greatest atten- 
tion. "It is wonderful," observed one of his 
friends, " to see what a little light will effect, 
even upon hearts and spirits most incapable." 

(On the night after this third meeting, many 
were gathered in the tent, looking earnestly at 
Eliot, with the solemn gravity and stillness 
which these savages affected ; when the chief, 
Waubon, suddenly rose, and began to instruct 
all the company out of the things he had heard 
that day from Eliot, with the wild and impres- 
sive eloquence of the desert. And waking 
often that night, he many times was heard 
speaking to some or other of his people, of the 
words of truth and mercy that he had heard. 

(Two or three days after these impressions 
had been made, Eliot saw that they were likely 
to be attended with permanent consequences* 
Wampas, an intelligent Indian, came with two 
of his companions to the English, and desired 
to be admitted into their families. He brought 
his son, and several other children with him, 
and begged that they might be educated in the 
Christian faith: the example quickly spread 
and all the Indians who were present at the 



70 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



fourth meeting, on the 9th of December, offered 
their children to be instructed. 

The missionary was himself surprised at the 
success of his first efforts, as well as at his 
facility of preaching and conversing in the In- 
dian tongue ; it was the reward of his long and 
patient application. "To think of raising," 
says Mather, " these hideous creatures unto the 
elevations of our holy religion, must argue a 
more than common or little soul in the under- 
taker : could he see any thing angelical to en- 
courage his labours ? — all was diabolical among 
them." 

Eliot saw that they must be civilized ere they 
could be christianized ; that he must make men 
of them, ere he could hope to see them saints. 
It is, no doubt, far easier and more flattering to 
the soul of the agent, to see men weep and 
tremble beneath his word, than to teach them 
to build, to plant, to rear the walls and the roof- 
tree, and sit at their own hearth-side : this is 
slow and painful work for a man of lofty mind 
and glowing enthusiasm. But in his own 
words, "he abhorred that he should sit still, 
and let that work alone and lost no time in 
addressing himself to the General Court of the 
colony, in behalf of those who showed a will- 
ingness to ba placed under his care. His appli- 
cation was successful ; and the Indians, having 
received a grant of land on which they might 
build a town, and enjoy the Christian instruc- 
tion which they desired, met together, and gave 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



71 



their assent to several laws which he had 
framed, to enforce industry and decency — to 
secure personal and domestic comfort. 

The ground of the town having been marked 
out, Eliot advised the Indians to surround it 
with ditches and a stone wall ; gave them in- 
struments to aid these objects, and such re- 
wards, in money, as induced them to work 
hard. It was a strange and novel thing to see 
these men of the wilderness, to whom a few 
months previous all restraint was slavery, and 
their lakes and forests dearer than the palaces 
of kings, submit cheerfully to this drudgery of 
bricks and mortar — chief as well as serf ; the 
very hands that were lately red with slaughter, 
scooping the earth at the bidding of Eliot, from 
morn to night. He soon had the pleasure of 
seeing Nonanetum completed. 

The progress of civilization which followed, 
was remarkable for its extent and rapidity : the 
women were taught to spin, and they soon 
found something to send to the nearest markets 
all the year round : in winter they sold staves, 
baskets, and poultry; in spring and summer, 
fish, grapes, strawberries, &c. 

In the mean while, he instructed the men in 
husbandry, and the more simple mechanical 
arts: in hay-time and harvest, he went forth 
into the fields with them. All this was not done 
in a day, for they were neither so industrious 
nor so capable of hard labour as those who had 
been accustomed to it from early life. 



72 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



AN INDIAN FUNERAL AT N0NANETU3I. 

At a funeral, on the 7th of October, 1647, a 
change in the usages and prejudices of the In- 
dians was evinced in a striking manner. The 
deceased was a man of some consequence. 
Their custom had been to mourn much for the 
dead, and to appear overcome with grief, espe- 
cially when the earth shrouded them from their 
sight. The departed was borne to the grave 
on a light bier, and interred in a sitting posture; 
in his hand was placed a calumet and some 
:obacco, that he might present the ensigns of 
peace to the people of another world. If the 
corpse was that of a warrior, his quiver full of 
arrows, a bow, and a hatchet, were placed by 
his side, and also a little mirror, that he might 
see how his face looked after passing through 
the region of death ; and a little vermilion to 
take away its extreme paleness. His was a 
bold hand that could at once tear aside these 
loved usages, and make the dust of the warrioi 
of no more consequence than that of the mean- 
est of his followers. The cemetery of the new 
town was in the woods, and the procession of 
all the inhabitants moved slowly beneath their 
shadow, in deep and solemn silence, with the 
missionary at their head : no wail was heard — 
no wild gush of sorrow. To estimate this 
sacrifice, it is necessary to recur to the Indian 
belief, "that after death they should go to a 
very fertile country, where they were to have 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 73 

many wives, and, above all, lovely places for 
hunting often, no doubt, the shadowy chase 
of the bear and the stag came on the dreams 
of the dying man; and afterwards, beautiful 
women would welcome him, weary to his 
home. When the dead was laid in the grave, 
Eliot read the funeral service over him, and 
then told the many people, that in heaven they 
neither married nor were given in marriage ; 
that the passions of this world, the wild chase 
or the warrior's joy, could never come there ; 
there was neither chieftain nor slave; that in 
the love of Christ, who was the resurrection 
and the life, all these things would be lost. 
And they believed him — those fierce and brutal 
men — and wept, not for the dead, but for them- 
selves; "so that the woods," says a gentleman 
who was present, " rang with their sighs and 
prayers ;" he also adds these words, — " God 
was with Eliot, and the sword of his word will 
pierce deep, in the hand of the mighty." His 
opinion of the mental powers of this people 
was not a very low one: — "There is need/' 
he says, in one of his letters, " of learning, in 
ministers who preach to Indians, much more 
than to Englishmen and gracious Christians; 
for these had sundry philosophical questions, 
which some knowledge of the arts must help 
to give answer to, and without which they 
would not have been satisfied. Worse than 
Indian ignorance hath blinded their eyes, that 
renounce learning as an enemy to gospel minis- 
ters." So acute were many of the questions 
7 



74 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



proposed by the Indians, and so deeply expres- 
sive of a gentler and better nature, that more 
than one educated stranger was induced to 
attend regularly the assemblies of the mis- 
sionary. 

lovewell's fight. 

Captain John Lovewell, of Dunstable, raised 
a volunteer company and met with great suc- 
cess. At one time he fell in with an Indian 
trail and pursued it till he discovered them 
asleep on the bank of a pond. They were all 
killed, and their scalps, stretched upon hoops, 
served to decorate their triumphal return. 
They, of course, received the bounty, which 
amounted to ten pounds. 

(1725.) Love well, having augmented his 
company to 46 men, again set out with the in- 
tention of attacking an Indian town on the 
Saco. They built a fort on the Great Ossapy 
pond, and then proceeded, leaving 'one of their 
number sick, and eight men to guard the fort. 

When about 22 miles from the fort they 
rested on the banks of a pond, where they dis- 
covered a single Indian at a distance, on a point 
of land, and rightly judging that he was at- 
tached to a large party of Indians, Lovewell 
determined to advance and attack them. Ac- 
cordingly the whole company threw off their 
packs in one place among the brakes ; and, to 
gain the advantage, the men were spread so as 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



75 



partially to surround the water. Lovewell had, 
however, mistaken the position of the Indians, 
who were already on his track, and coming to 
the place where the packs were deposited, by 
counting them discovered the number of Eng- 
lish to be less than their own. They, therefore, 
marched to assault the English in the rear, and 
actually hemmed them in between the mouth 
of a brook, a rocky point, a deep bog, and the 
pond. The company, completely surrounded, 
fought desperately till nightfall, when the In- 
dians, tired of the conflict, moved off. The 
number of killed and wounded amounted to 
23, Lovewell being among the former. The 
remainder of the party returned to the fort 
which had been deserted, in consequence of the 
arrival of one of LovewelPs men who fled at 
the beginning of the fight, and reported all the 
rest killed. After resting, they started for home, 
where they arrived, to the great joy of their 
friends, after enduring the severest hardships. 
The survivors were liberally compensated, and 
the widows and families of the slain were pro- 
vided for by the government of the province. 

cotton mather's account of the Indians 
of his time. 

"These shiftless Indians," says Mather, 
" their housing is nothing but a few mats tied 
about poles fastened into the earth, where a 
good fire is their bed-clothes in the coldest sea- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES* 



i 



son: their diet has not a greater dainty; a 
handful of meal and a spoonful of water being 
their food for many days ; for they depend on 
the produce of their hunting and fishing, and 
badly cultivated grounds : thus they are subject 
to long fastings. They have a cure for some 
diseases, even a little cave : after they have ter- 
ribly heated it, a crew of them go and sit there 
with the priest, looking in the heat and smoke 
like so many fiends, and then they rush forth 
on a sudden, and plunge into the water : how 
they escape death, instead of getting cured, is 
marvellous ; they are so slothful, that their poor 
wives must plant, and build, and beat their 
corn. All the religion they have is a belief in 
many gods, who made the different nations of 
the world, but chiefly in one great one of the 
name of Kicktan, who dwelt in the south-west 
regions of the heavens, who created the ori- 
ginal parents of mankind, who, though never 
seen by the eye of man, was entitled to their 
gratitude , that we have in us immortal souls, 
which, if good, should go to a splendid enter- 
tainment with Kicktan; but, otherwise, must 
wander about in a restless horror for ever." 

THE VALIANT OLD MOHAWK. 

(1696.) On one occasion, when Count Fron- 
tignac succeeded in capturing a Mohawk fort, 
it was found deserted of all its inhabitants ex- 
cept a sachem in extreme old age, who sat with 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



77 



the composure of an ancient Roman in his ca- 
pital, and saluted his civilized compeer in age 
and infirmity, with dignified courtesy and vene- 
rable address. Every hand was instantly raised 
to wound and deface his time-stricken frame; 
and while French and Indian knives were 
plunged into his body, he recommended to his 
Indian enemies rather to burn him with fire, 
that he might teach their French allies how 
to suffer like men. "Never, perhaps/' says 
Charlevoix, " was a man treated with more cru- 
elty ; nor ever did any endure it with superior 
magnanimity and resolution." 

opechancanough's last war. 

Opechancanough was by no means backward 
in taking advantage of the repose afforded by 
the treaty of 1632. For the long period which 
elapsed between its conclusion and his final 
effort, in 1644, he was industriously occupied in 
making preparations for a renewal of hostili- 
ties. An opportunity at length presented itself 
for executing his long-cherished purpose. The 
colony was involved in intestine dissensions. 
An insurrection had taken place in consequence 
of the unpopularity of the governor^ and at a 
moment when the people were occupied with 
internal disorders and heedless of danger from 
without, their great enemy struck a powerful 
and almost fatal blow. 

He was now advanced to extreme old age, 
7* 



78 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



being supposed to have numbered nearly a 
hundred years, but the powers of his mind 
were still so vigorous, that he was the leading 
spirit of a confederacy embracing all the Indian 
tribes distributed over a space of country six 
hundred miles m extent. Unable to walk, he 
was borne in a litter to the scene of action 
(April ISth, 1644,) and thus led his warriors to 
the attack. Such was the skill with which his 
measures haql been concerted that the whole 
force of the Indians commenced their opera- 
tions upon the entire line of the frontier at the 
same instant of time, with the intention of car- 
rying a war of extermination down to the sea, 
and thus annihilating the colony at a single 
blow. In two days, five hundred persons had 
fallen in the massacre. Of course, every ope- 
ration of industry was instantly abandoned, and 
all who were able to bear arms were embodied 
to oppose so terrible an invasion. Governor 
Berkeley, at the head of a chosen force, con- 
sisting of every twentieth man in the colony, 
marched into the enemy's country, and thus 
gave him the first check. Of the details of the 
campaign, in consequence of the confusion and 
distress prevailing at the time, no details are 
furnished by the contemporary historians. Be- 
verly's account, the only one which survived 
the ravages of the time, is meagre and unsatis- 
factory. One result of the Avar, however, is 
sufficiently well attested, since it terminated the 
horrors of the season. This was the capture of 
the aged Opechancanough, who was surprise*! 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



79 



and taken prisoner by a squadron of horse un- 
der the command of Governor Berkeley, who 
forthwith conducted him in triumph to James- 
Town. 

It was the governor's intention to have sent 
this remarkable person to England ; but he was 
shot after being taken prisoner, by a soldier, in 
resentment of the calamities he had inflicted on 
the province. He lingered under the wound 
for several days, and died with the pride and 
firmness of an old Roman. Indignant at the 
crowds who came to gaze at him on his death- 
bed, he exclaimed; "If I had taken Sir William 
Berkeley prisoner, I would not have exposed 
him as a show to the people." Perhaps he re- 
membered that he had saved the life of Cap- 
tain Smith, and forgot the numberless instances 
in which he had exposed other prisoners to 
public derision and lingering torture. 

After the decease of their great enemy, the 
colonists had no difficulty in concluding a treaty 
with the Indians, which gave tranquillity to the 
province for a long term of years. 




80 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



THE BURNING OF SCHENECTADY. 

The incursions of the Indians on our frontiers 
in early times were usually the result of Spanish 
influence in the South, or French influence in 
the North. The French reduced the incitement 
of Indian hostilities to a complete system, and 
their officers and soldiers were not ashamed to 
accompany the savages in their murdering and 
marauding expeditions into New England and 
New York. Among all the recorded instances 
of this kind, none appears to have been attended 
with more atrocious circumstances of cruelty 
and rapine, than the burning of Schenectady, 
This affair is marked by many traits of the very 
worst description. The inhumanity of murder- 
ing in their beds the very people who had for- 
merly relieved their wants, is, perhaps, without 
a parallel. 

In 1690, Count de Frontignac, governor 
general of Canada, sent out three expeditions 
against the American colonies. The first of 
these proceeded against Schenectady, then a 
small village, situated on the Mohawk river. 
This party, after wandering for twenty-two 
days through deserts rendered trackless by 
snow, approached the village of Schenectady 
in so exhausted a condition, that they had de- 
termined to surrender themselves to the inha- 
bitants as prisoners of war. But, arriving at a 
late hour on an inclement night, and hearing 
from the messengers they had sent forward that 
the inhabitants were all in bed, without even 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



81 



the precaution of a public watch, they ex- 
changed their intention of imploring mercy to 
themselves, for a plan of nocturnal attack and 
massacre of the defenceless people, to whose 
charity their own countrymen had once been so 
highly indebted. This detestable requital of 
good with evil was executed with a barbarity 
which, of itself, must be acknowledged to form 
one of the most revolting and terrific pictures 
that has ever been exhibited of human cruelty 
and ferocity. Dividing themselves into a num- 
ber of parties, they set fire to the village in va- 
rious places, and attacked the inhabitants with 
fatal advantage when, alarmed by the confla- 
gration, they endeavoured to escape from their 
burning houses. The exhausted strength of 
the Frenchmen appeared to revive with the 
work of destruction, and to gather energy from 
the animated horror of the scene. Not only 
were all the male inhabitants they could reach 
put to death, but women were murdered, and 
their infants dashed on the walls of the houses. 
But either the delay caused by this elaborate 
cruelty, or the more merciful haste of the 
flames to announce the calamity to those who 
might still fly from the assassins, enabled many 
of the inhabitants to escape. The efforts of 
the assailants were also somewhat impeded by 
a sagacious discrimination which they thought 
it expedient to exercise. Though unmindful 
of benefits, they were not regardless of policy; 
and of a number of Mohawk Indians who 
were in the village, not one sustained an injury 



82 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



Sixty persons perished in the massacre, and 
twenty-seven were taken prisoners. Of the 
fugitives who escaped half naked, and made 
their way through a storm of snow to Albany, 
twenty-five lost their limbs from the intensity 
of the frost. The French, having totally de- 
stroyed Schenectady, retired loaded with plun- 
der from a place where, we think, it must be 
acknowledged that even the accustomed atro- 
cities of Indian warfare had been outdone. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



83 



REMARKABLE CUSTOM OF THE NATCHES. 

The Natches were a very considerable na- 
tion; they formed several villages, that were 
under some peculiar chief, and these obeyed 
one superior of the whole nation. All these 
chiefs bore the name of suns; they adored 
that luminary, and carried his image on their 
breasts, rudely carved. The manner in which 
the Natches rendered divine service to the sun 
has something solemn in it. The high-priest 
got up at break of day, and marched at the 
head of the people with a grave pace, the calu- 
met of peace in his hand. He smoked in 
honour of the sun, and blew the first mouthful 
of smoke towards him; when he rose above 
the horizon, they howled by turns after the 
high-priests, and contemplated it with their 
arms extended to heaven. They had a temple 
in which they kept up an eternal fire. 

So proud were these chiefs, who pretended 
to trace their origin to the sun, that they had a 
law, by which every Natchez, who had mar- 
ried a girl of the blood of the suns, must follow 
her in death, as soon as she had breathed her 
last. There was an Indian, whose name was 
Etteacteal ; he dearly loved a daughter of one 
of these suns, and married her ; but the conse- 
quence of this honour had nearly proved very 
fatal to him. His wife fell sick: he watched 
over her day and night, and with many tears 
he besought her not to die, and they prayed to- 



84 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



gether to Wachil, or the sun, that he would 
spare her life ; at last he saw her at the point 
of death, and then he fled : for the moment she 
ceased to breathe, he was to be slain. He em- 
barked in a piragua on the Mississippi, and 
came to New Orleans. He put himself under 
the protection of M. de Bienville, the then go- 
vernor, who interested himself for him with 
the Natches ; they declared that he had nothing 
more to fear. 

Etteacteal, being thus assured, resolved to 
return to his nation 5 and, without settling 
among them, made several voyages thither; 
he happened to be there, when the chief called 
the Stung Serpent, brother to the head of the 
nation, died ; he was a relation of the late wife 
of Etteacteal, and the people resolved to make 
the latter pay his debt, and arrested him. 
When he found himself in the hut of the grand 
chief of war, he gave vent to the excess of his 
grief. 

The favourite wife of the deceased Stung 
Serpent, who was likewise to be sacrificed, 
and who saw the preparations for her death 
with firmness, hearing the complaints and 
groans of Etteacteal, said to him, " Art thou no 
warrior?" he said, "Yes, I am one." " How- 
ever," said she, "thou criest, life is dear to 
thee ; and as that is the case, it is not good 
that thou shouldst go along with me — go with 
the women." Etteacteal replied, " True, life 
is dear to me : it would be well if I walked 
yet on earth 3 wait, 0 wait till the death of the 




INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



85 



great sun, and I will die with him." "Go thy 
way," she said, " it is not fit that thou die with 
me, and thy heart remain behind on earth ; 
the warriors will obey my word, for now, so 
near to the Spirit of life, I am full of power : 
go away, and let me see thee no more." He 
did not stay to have this order repeated; he 
disappeared like lightning. Three old women, 
two of whom were his relations, offered to pay 
his debt; their age and their infirmities had 
disgusted them with life ; none of them had 
been able to walk for a great while ; but the 
hair of the two that were related to Etteacteal, 
was no more grey than that of young women ; 
the third was a hundred and twenty years old ; 
they were sacrificed in the evening, at the go- 
ing down of the sun. 

The generosity of these women gave the In- 
dian life again, acquired him the degree of 
Considered, and cleared his honour, that had 
been sullied by his fearing death. The hour 
being come for the sacrifice of the favourite 
wife of the deceased chief, she came forth, and 
called her children round her, while the people 
stood a little way off: "Children," she said, 
" this is the day on which I am to tear myself 
! from your arms, and to follow your father's 
steps, who waits for me in the country of the 
spirits; if I were to yield to your tears, I 
should injure my love, and fail in my duty. I 
have done enough for you by bearing you next 
to my heart, and by suckling you with my 
breasts. You that are descended of his blood, 



86 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



and fed by my milk, ought you to shed tears ? 
rejoice, rather, that you are suns and warriors : 
go, my children, I have provided for all your 
wants, by procuring you friends ; my friends, 
and those of your father, are yours too. And 
you, Frenchmen," she added, turning herself 
towards our officers, "I recommend my or- 
phan children to you; — you ought to protect 
them ; we shall be longer friends in the coun- 
try of the spirits than here, because we do not 
die there again. And now the day is sinking 
behind the hills ; yet a few moments, my hus- 
band, and I come !" 

Moved by these words, a noble woman 
came to join herself to the favourite wife, of 
her own accord, being engaged, she said, by 
the friendship she bore the Stung Serpent, to 
follow him into the other world. The Euro- 
peans called her the Haughty Lady, on account 
of her majestic deportment, and proud and 
beautiful features : on this account the French 
officers regretted very much her resolve, and 
strove to dissuade her from it, but in vain : the 
moving sight filled them all with grief and 
horror. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



87 



PONTIAC. 

Great as were many of the western Indian 
warriors, none was greater than Pontiac, a chief 
whose fame was not only spread throughout 
America, but widely diffused in Europe. He 
was the chief of all the Indians on the chain of 
lakes : the Ottawas, to which he belonged, the 
Miamis, Chippewas, Wyandots, Pottawatomies, 
Winnebagoes, Shawanese, Ottagamies, and Mis- 
sissagas, all of which tribes afterwards were led 
by Tecumseh. Pontiac is said to have possessed 
a majestic and princely appearance, so pleasing 
to the Indians, and this in part accounts for his 
popularity among them. 

In 1760, after the capture of Quebec, Major 
Rogers was sent into the country of Pontiac to 
drive the French from it. Being informed of 
his approach, Pontiac sent word to him to wait 
until he came to him. The major waited, and 
when Pontiac came, that chief asked him why 
he entered his dominions without permission. 
The major answered that he came not against 
the natives but the French; and at the same 
time gave the chief several belts of wampum ; 
whereupon Pontiac replied, " I stand in the path 
you travel until to-morrow morning." By this 
was meant that he must not proceed until the 
next morning. Upon an offer of the Indian, 
Major Rogers bought a large quantity of parched 
corn, and other provisions. The next day Pon- 
tiac offered him every facility for the under- 



88 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



taking. Messengers were sent to the different 
tribes to assure them that the English had his 
permission to pass through the country, and he 
even accompanied the major and troops as far 
as Detroit. He was noted for the desire of 
knowledge, and while the English were in his 
country, he was very curious in examining their 
arms, clothes, &c., and expressed a wish to go 
to England. He said that he would allow 
white settlements within his domains ; and was 
willing to call the king of England uncle but 
not master. He further told the soldiers that 
they must behave themselves peaceably while 
in his country, or he would stop the way. 

Pontiac had distinguished himself at Detroit 
and Michillimackinac. When the French gave 
up Canada (1760), their Indian allies still pre- 
served their hatred towards the English, and as 
Pontiac was the most considerable enemy of 
that nation, the adjacent tribes all came to him 
as a support against them. Pontiac had ad- 
vanced farther in civilization than any of the 
neighbouring chiefs: he appointed a commissary 
during the war of 1763, called Pontiac's war; 
and issued bills of credit, on each of which was 
pictured the thing desired, and the figure of an 
otter, the symbol of his tribe. In 1763 Major 
Rogers sent a bottle of brandy to him, which 
Pontiac w T as counselled not to drink, as it pro- 
bably contained poison. But with the greatest 
magnanimity he exclaimed, "It is not in his 
power to kill him who has so lately saved his 



life." 




INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



89 



THE IDOL OF THE PEORIAS. 

(from an old traveller.) 

"(We arrived at the village of the Peorias^ 
allies of the Illinois, through a fine large mea- 
dow, which is many leagues long. This village 
is situated on the banks of a little river, and 
surrounded with great pales and posts : there 
are many trees on the banks, and the huts are 
built beneath them. When we arrived there, 
I inquired for the hut of the grand chief : I was 
well received by him and his first warriors. 
They had just been beaten by the Foxes, their 
mortal enemies, and were now holding a con- 
sultation about it. A young Indian lighted the 
calumet of peace ; then they brought me a dish 
of maize flour, called sagamite, sweetened with 
the syrup of the maple-tree ; and afterwards a 
dessert of dry fruits, as good as Corinth raisins. 
The next day I saw a great crowd in the plain : 
they were for making a dance in favour of 
their new Manitou ; the high priest had a bon- 
net of feathers, like a crown, on his head. I 
was at the door of the temple of their false 
deity ; he begged me to go in. Judge of my 
astonishment, for this is the picture of their 
Manitou : his head hung upon his breast, and 
looked like a goat's ; his ears and his cruel eye 
were like those of a lynx, with the same kind 
of hair ; his feet, hands, and thighs were in 
form something like those of a man. 

" The Indians found him in the woods, at the 
8* 



90 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



foot of a ridge of mountains, and the priests 
had persuaded them to adopt him for a divinity. 
This general assembly was called, to invoke his 
protection against their enemies. I let the In- 
dians know that their Manitou was an evil 
genius ; as a proof of it, I said that he had just 
permitted the nation of Foxes, their most cruel 
enemies, to gain a victory over them, and they 
ought to get rid of him as soon as possible, and 
be revenged on him. After a short time, they 
answered, 6 Houe nigeie, tinai labe/ — ' we be- 
lieve thee, thou art in the right/ They then 
voted that he should be burnt ; and the great 
priest, after some opposition, pronounced his 
sentence, which, according to the interpreter's 
explanation, was in these terms : (0 thou, fatal 
to our nation, who has wrongfully taken thee 
for her Manitou ! thou hast paid no regard to 
the offerings which we have made thee, and 
hast allowed our enemies, whom thou dost 
plainly protect, to overcome us ; therefore our 
old men, assembled in council, have decreed, 
with the advice of the chief of the white war- 
riors, that to expiate thy ingratitude towards 
us, thou shalt be burnt alive.' At the end of 
this sentence, all the assembly said, 6 Hau, hau/ 
which signified 6 yes.' 

" As I wished to get this monster, I went to 
the priest, made him a small present, and bid 
my interpreter tell him that he should persuade 
his countrymen, that if they burnt this evil ge- 
nius, there might arise one from his ashes that 
could be fatal to them ; that I would go on pur- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



91 



pose across the great lake, to deliver them from 
it. He found my reasons good, and got the 
sentence changed, so that it was strangled. I 
got it instantly dissected, in order to bring it to 
France, where its skeleton is now in the cabinet 
of natural history of M. de Fayolles. The 
assembly dispersed, and returned to their village 
by the river side. In the evening you might 
see them sitting in groups at their doors, and on 
the shore, with many fires made of the branches 
of the trees, whose light was on the water and 
the grove ; while some of them danced the 
dance of war, with loud shrieks, that were 
enough to strike an awe into the heart." 



92 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



DEATH OF A MOHAWK CHIEF. 

Count Frontignac, whose sprightly manners 
and energetic character supported the spirits of 
his countrymen amidst every reverse, was so 
provoked with what he deemed the ingratitude 
of the Five Nations for his kindness to them at 
Schenectady, that, besides encouraging his own 
Indian allies to burn their prisoners alive, he at 
length condemned to a death still more dreadful, 
two Mohawk warriors who had fallen into his 
hands. In vain the French priests remonstrated 
against this sentence, and urged him not to bring 
so foul a stain on the Christian name : the count 
declared that every consideration must yield to 
the safety and defence of his people, and that 
the Indians must not be encouraged to believe 
that they might practise the extreme of cruelty 
on the French without the hazard of having it 
retorted on themselves. If he had been merely 
actuated by politic considerations, without being 
stimulated by revenge, he might have plainly 
perceived, from the conduct of all the Indian 
tribes in their wars with each other, that the 
fear of retort had no efficacy -whatever to re- 
strain them from their barbarous practices, 
which he now undertook to sanction as far as 
his example was capable of doing. The priests, 
finding that their humane intercession was in- 
effectual, repaired to the prisoners, and laboured 
to persuade them to embrace the Christian name, 
as a preparation for the dreadful fate which 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



93 



they were about to receive from Christian 
hands ; but their instructions were rejected with 
scorn and derision, and they found the prisoners 
determined to dignify, by Indian sentiments and 
demeanour, the Indian death which they had 
been condemned to undergo. Shortly before 
the execution, some Frenchman, less inhuman 
than his governor, threw a knife into the prison, 
and one of the Mohawks immediately dis- 
patched himself with it: the other, expressing 
contempt at his companion's mean evasion from 
glory, walked to the stake, singing in his death- 
chant, that he was a Mohawk warrior, that all 
the power of man could not extort the least ex- 
pression of suffering from his lips, and that it 
was ample consolation to him to reflect that he 
had made many Frenchmen suffer the same 
pangs that he must now himself undergo. 
When attached to the stake, he looked round on 
his executioners, their instruments of torture, 
and the assembled multitude of spectators, with 
all the complacency of heroic fortitude ; and, 
after enduring for some hours, with composed 
mien and triumphant language, a series of bar- 
barities too atrocious and disgusting to be re- 
cited, his sufferings were terminated by the 
interposition of a French lady, who prevailed 
with the governor to order that mortal blow, to 
which human cruelty has given the name of 
coup de grace or stroke of favour. 



94 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



MURDER OF MISS MACREA. 

Mr. Jones, an officer of the British army, had 
gained the affections of Miss Maerea, a lovely 
young lady of amiable character and spotless 
reputation, daughter of a gentleman attached 
to the royal cause, residing near Fort Edward ; 
and they had agreed to be married. In the 
course of service, the officer was removed to 
some distance from his bride, and became 
anxious for her safety and desirous of her 
company. He engaged some Indians, of two 
different tribes, to bring her to camp, and pro- 
mised a keg of rum to the person who should 
deliver her safe to him. She dressed to meet 
her bridegroom, and accompanied her Indian 
conductors; but by the way, the two chiefs, 
each being desirous of receiving the promised 
reward, disputed which of them should deliver 
her to her lover. The dispute rose to a quarrel ; 
and, according to their usual method of dis- 
posing of a disputed prisoner, one of them 
instantly cleft the head of the lady with his 
tomahawk. This simple story, sufficiently tra- 
gical and affecting in itself, was blazoned in the 
American newspapers with every amplification 
that could excite the imagination or touch the 
heart; and contributed in no slight degree to 
embitter the minds of the people against those 
who could degrade themselves by the aid of 
such allies. The impulse given to the public 
mind by such atrocities more than counter- 
balanced any advantages which the British de- 
rived from the assistance of the Indians. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



95 



AN INDIAN IN COLLEGE. 

The first serious disappointment which John 
Eliot, the Indian Apostle, experienced, was in 
his efforts for the instruction of the Indian 
youth in the classic languages ; many of the 
ablest and most promising among them were 
set apart for this purpose; his ambition was 
to bring them up "with our English youth 
in university learning." Where was the use 
of this ? Eliot's best purposes were prone 
to be carried to excess. He gave away 
a whole year's salary, at a wretched cot- 
tage, while his wife was probably expecting 
it at home for household demands. He had 
learned his Indians to read and write ; many 
could read English well ; and now he wished 
to give them a polite education, that must have 
sat as gracefully on them as the full-sleeved 
gown and bands of the divine. Considerable 
sums were expended in their board and educa- 
tion : a substantial building of brick, which cost 
between three and four hundred pounds, was 
erected ; it was large enough to accommodate 
twenty scholars. It must have been Spartan 
discipline to the heads as well as hearts of the 
poor Indians, to labour morn and night through 
the Greek and Roman authors, to try to dis- 
cover and relish the beauties of style and the 
splendour of imagery. No doubt, their thoughts 
sometimes fled away to their deserts, where 
their fathers roved in dignity and freedom, and 



96 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



books never came. The design might be praise- 
worthy, but Providence did not smile upon it , 
most of these young men died when they had 
made great proficiency in their studies, as if the 
languages wore out their hearts ; others aban- 
doned Iheir books, even when they were pre 
pared to enter Harvard College, in the town of 
Cambridge : their patience was probably ex- 
hausted, and the boon of literary dignity could 
lure them no further. A few of these, passing 
from one extreme to the other, burst their bonds 
at once ; and as if mind and body panted to- 
gether to be free, hastened back to the wilder- 
ness again, into its wigwams and swamps ; 
where neither Homer nor Ovid was like to 
follow them. 

"These circumstances proved very discou- 
raging to the godly in New England/' says a 
contemporary. " Some were so far affected by 
them, as to conceive that they were manifest 
tokens of the Divine disapprobation. Mr. Eliot, 
however, whose faith was more vigorous, con- 
sidered them merely as trials, to which they 
ought to submit without reluctance." In con- 
sequence of the death and failure of those who 
entered the aforesaid building, it was soon after 
chiefly occupied by the English. Only one of 
these Indian students appears to have obtained 
his degree at Harvard College : and at the con- 
clusion of two Latin and Greek elegies, which 
he composed on the death of an eminent min- 
ister, subscribed himself " Cheesecaumuk, Se- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



nior Sophista." What an incongruous blend- 
ing of sounds ! 

Eliot at last saw his error, and, instead of 
the classics, applied with fresh ardour to his 
more useful translations, of which the circula- 
tion was so rapid, that he printed a fresh edi- 
tion of the " Practice of Piety." He also soon 
after established a lecture at Naticke, in which 
he explained the leading doctrines of theology 
and logic : here he was on safe ground, and his 
labours were eminently useful. During the 
summer months they assembled eagerly once 
a fortnight, and many of them gained much 
knowledge ; yet he was far from being satisfied 
with his oral instructions, and he printed a 
thousand copies of a logic primer, and made 
little systems of all the liberal arts, for the use 
of the Indians. The same minds that had pined 
and sunk beneath the study of the classic 
tongues, embraced these things with ardour. 




9 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



AN INDIAN WARRANT. 

Judge Davis, in his Appendix to the Memo 
rial, observes, that the employment of the more 
intelligent and energetic Indians as rulers, was 
particularly grateful to them. He had often 
heard of amusing anecdotes of the Indian 
rulers. The following warrant is recollected, 
which was issued by one of these magistrates, 
directed to an Indian constable, and will not 
suffer in comparison with our more verbose 
forms. 

<I, Hihoudi, you Peter Waterman, Jeremy 
Wicket, quick you take him, fast you hold him 
straight you bring him before me, Hihoudi/ 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



99 



CAPTAIN JOHN" SMITH. 

This gentleman figures, in the early history 
of our country, as the most strenuous promoter 
of colonization, the most wise founder, and the 
most active governor, of colonies. In New 
England he acted as discoverer and settler ; in 
Virginia he sustained both these characters, as 
well as that of the most efficient and able go- 
vernor of the first permanent colony. When 
he landed upon the soil, he was a private 
citizen; but the misgovernment of others soon 
made it necessary to call him to the office of 
governor. 

Under his directions James-Town was forti- 
fied by such defences as were sufficient to repel 
the attacks of the savages; and, by dint of 
great labour, which he was always the foremost 
to share, the colonists were provided with 
dwellings that afforded shelter from the weather, 
and contributed to restore and preserve their 
health. Finding the supplies of the savages 
discontinued, he put himself at the head of a 
detachment of his people, and penetrated into 
the country ; and by courtesy and liberality to 
the tribes whom he found well disposed, and 
vigorously repelling the hostilities of such as 
were otherwise minded, he obtained for the 
colony the most abundant supplies. 



100 



INDIAN ANECDOTES 



In the midst of his successes he was surprised 
on an expedition, by a hostile body of savages, 
who, having succeeded in making him prisoner, 
after a gallant and nearly successful defence, 
prepared to inflict on him the usual fate of their 
captives. His eminent faculties did not desert 
him on this trying occasion. He desired to 
speak with the sachem or chief, and, presenting 
him with a mariner's compass, expatiated on 
the wonderful discoveries to which it had led, 
described the shape of the earth, the vastness of 
its lands and oceans, the course of the sun, the 
varieties of nations, and the singularity of their 
relative positions, which made some of them 
antipodes to the others. 

With equal prudence and magnanimity he re- 
frained from all solicitations for his life, which 
would only have weakened the impressions 
which he hoped to produce. The savages 
listened with amazement and admiration. They 
had handled the compass, and viewing with 
surprise the play of the needle, which they 
plainly saw, but found it impossible to touch, 
from the intervention of the glass, this mar- 
vellous object prepared their minds for the re- 
ception of those vast impressions by which 
their captive endeavoured to gain ascendency 
over them. 

For an hour after he had finished his harangue, 
they seem to have remained undecided; till 
their habitual sentiments reviving, they resumed 
their suspended purpose, and, having bound 
him to a tree, prepared to dispatch him with 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



101 



their arrows. But a stronger impression had 
been made on their chief; and his soul, enlarged 
for a season by the admission of knowledge, or 
subdued by the influence of wonder, revolted 
from the dominion of habitual ferocity. This 
chief was named Opechancanough, and des- 
tined at a future period to invest his bar- 
barous name with terror and celebrity. Holding 
up the compass in his hand, he gave the signal 
of reprieve, and Smith, though still guarded as 
a prisoner, was conducted to a dwelling where 
he was kindly treated, and plentifully enter- 
tained. But the strongest impressions pass 
away, while the influence of habit remains. 

After vainly endeavouring to prevail on their 
captive to betray the English colony into their 
hands, they referred his fate to Powhatan, the 
king or principal sachem of the country, to 
whose presence they conducted him in trium- 
phal procession. The king received him with 
much ceremony, ordered a plentiful repast to be 
set before him, and then adjudged him to suffer 
death by having his head laid on a stone and 
beat to pieces with clubs. At the place ap- 
pointed for this barbarous execution, he was 
again rescued from impending fate by the inter- 
position of Pocahontas, the favourite daughter 
of the king, who, finding her first entreaties dis- 
regarded, threw her arms around the prisoner, 
and declared her determination to save him or 
die with him. Her generous affection prevailed 
over the cruelty of her tribe, and the king not 
only gave Smith his life, but soon after sent 
9* 



102 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



him back to James-Town, where the bene- 
ficence of Pocahontas continued to follow him 
with supplies of provisions that delivered the 
colony from famine. 

ANECDOTES OF KING PHILIP'S WAR, 

COMMENCEMENT OP THE WAR. 

In the year 1674, the number of Eliot's towns 
and settlements, in which industry, comfort, 
good order, and the best instruction, were es- 
tablished, amounted to more than twelve, when 
an unforeseen event happened, that threw a 
cloud over all his prospects. This was the war 
in which the colonists of New England were 
involved with Philip, son of Massasoit, the ce- 
lebrated chief, and, for the last years of his life, 
the firm friend of the English. " 0, thou sword 
of the wilderness, when wilt thou be quiet?" 
says Mather, forgetful that it was bared by the 
aggressions of the settlers, as well as by the 
fierce and restless spirit of the Indian prince. 
Ever since the foundation of the colonies, the 
former had conducted themselves, says more 
than one divine of the period, with great kind- 
ness to their heathen brethren. The truth of 
this assertion is very doubtful. The missionary 
took no part in the disputes, save to urge his 
countrymen to forbearance and peace. " We, 
the poor church of Naticke," he writes to them, 
" hearing that the honoured rulers of Plymouth 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 103 



are pressing and arming of soldiers to go to 
war with the Indians, do mourn greatly on ac- 
count of it, and desire that they may not be 
destroyed, because we have not heard that they 
have done any thing worthy of death. It is 
your duty to offer, accept, and desire peace, and 
we pray you, for God's sake, and for your 
souls' sake, obey this word ; we long to hear 
of a happy peace, that may open a clear pas- 
sage for the gospel among that people." Sim- 
ple as these words are, they unfold an affection, 
on the part of the missionary and his converts, 
for those who had few claims on their regard ; 
for Philip, and most of his chiefs, had sternly 
rejected all persuasions to Christianity. But 
Eliot was not of the sentiment of another di- 
vine, who rejoiced in the rejection of the pro- 
posals by the Indians, that " this thing was of 
the Lord." He saw only on one side an ex- 
quisite jealousy, roused by many wrongs, a 
heart burning with vindictive feelings ; on the 
other, a sordid ambition, an unhallowed love 
of glory. It was a source of sorrow, that the 
torch of discord was first kindled by one of his 
own people. In the end of the year 1674, John 
Seusoman, a converted Indian, after having 
apostatized from the faith, devoted himself to 
the service of Philip, as secretary. He informed 
the English that his countrymen had resolved 
to adopt measures for their destruction. " He 
could write," says the historian, " though the 
king, his master, could not read." 



104 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



This renegade, fearing the consequences of 
what he had done, returned to the protection 
of the settlers, and was soon after slain by two 
of the Indian captains. The English arrested 
the perpetrators of the deed, and, on a trial by 
jury, finding them guilty, they were executed. 
Philip was alarmed at the condemnation of his 
counsellors, and, conscious that he had given 
cause for suspicion, resolved to be the first in 
the field. He had probably long waited for an 
opportunity. Rash, headstrong, and vindictive, 
with the courage but not the talents of his 
father, Massasoit, the slow and artful aggres- 
sions of the settlers stung him to the quick. 
He began to gather his warriors around his 
dwelling-place, at the strong forts near the Na- 
raganset river; he received the accession of 
several other tribes. In the mean time, it was 
said, strange sights and sounds foreboded, in 
many parts of the colonies, the woes that were 
near ; the singing of bullets, and the awful 
passing away of drums in the air; invisible 
troops of horses were heard riding to and fro ; 
and in a clear, still, sunshiny morning, the phan- 
toms of men, fearfully flitting by ! Philip, heed- 
less of omens and dreams, sent away the wo- 
men and children, and took his stand on Mount 
Hope, a low and beautiful eminence, on which 
was his strongest fort. Ere matters came to a 
fatal extremity, and all the evils of war were 
let loose on his settlements, Eliot did his utmost 
to turn them aside ; he saw that many of his 



INDIAN ANECWrES. 



105 



people would inevitably be involved with one 
party or the other. His town of Pakeunit was 
very near Mount Hope ; he had visited the lat- 
ter during the life of Massasoit, and though he 
felt not the same regard or esteem for his son, 
a friendly intercourse had subsisted between 
them. His applications to the colonists for 
peace being fruitless, he resolved to try them 
also on the former. 



106 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



INTERVIEW BETWEEN ELIOT AND PHILIP. 

A few miles only distant, the encampment 
of the Indians around their Mount was dis- 
tinctly visible from Pakeunit ; and Eliot, with 
two or three of his people, went to have an in- 
terview with the chieftain. Philip respected 
his character, though he disliked his proceed- 
ings, for he had always treated his mission with 
contempt and slight ; among the warriors, how- 
ever, both of his own and other tribes, were 
many who had heard Eliot preach, and had re- 
ceived him beneath their roof. The interview 
was without any success ; the spirit of the In- 
dian was made up to the desperate struggle, 
and all that could be done was to beseech him 
to spare the settlements of the converts. 

The contrast between the two men must 
have been sufficiently striking. Philip wfias in 
the prime of life, with a frame nerved by early 
hardship, and the usages of savage warfare, in 
which he was very expert ; he was dressed like 
his chiefs, save that he wore a silver-laced tu- 
nic, or coat, and that his arms were more rich : 
his chief ensign of dignity was his princely, yet 
cruel and gloomy features, where the thirst of 
revenge was stamped. The frame of the mis- 
sionary was not bowed even by seventy years, 
though they had turned his hair white; the 
leathern girdle was about his loins, that he 
always wore, and the simple apparel that he 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



107 



loved ; he stood among these fierce and exas- 
perated men as calm and fearless as in his own 
assembly at Naticke : he could not but foresee 
the devastation about to be let loose on the 
land ; that the fire and the sword would waste 
all his pleasant places, and scatter his converts ; 
and he returned with a heavy heart to his 
home. Several of the latter afterwards sided 
with the forces of Philip : whether from this 
circumstance, or from the nearness of the set- 
tlement of Pakeunit to the camp of the prince, 
the colonists contracted the strongest dislike 
and mistrust of the Christian Indians. Eliot, 
when he saw there was no longer a chance of 
peace, exhorted his people in the above town, 
and at Naticke, as well as the other congrega- 
tions, not to be moved by the example or se- 
ductions of either party. 



108 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



CHRISTIAN INDIANS ENGAGE IN THE WAR. 



The contagion was, however, too strong ; and 
Eliot at last saw many of them also take up 
arms against their infidel countrymen. The ordei 
and harmony of their dwelling-places were foi 
a time utterly blasted ; on the hills around Na- 
ticke and Pakeunit the watch-fires were blaz- 
ing ; the war-whoops were often heard in the 
night ; at intervals, a solitary musket, and then 
a signal cry, came from the neighbouring 
woods; and yet nearer, the poor Indians at 
last saw their plantations without the town, 
burning ; for Philip began hostilities by a sud- 
den attack on them, so that their taking up 
arms was partly in self-defence. After several 
actions, he retired from Mount Hope to the 
woods, swamps, and fastnesses of the interior, 
in the dominion of the great tribe of the Nara- 
ganset Indians, who, for his sake, had now 
broken treaty with the English. It was the 
depth of winter, yet the latter resolved to fol- 
low him to his retreats, and an army of fifteen 
hundred men, under the command of the Hon. 
J. Winslow, marched to the abode of the In- 
dians. This was on an island of about five or 
six acres, the only entrance to which was upon 
a long tree over the water, so that but one 
man could pass at a time : but the water was 
frozen ; the trees and thickets were white with 
their burden of snow, as was the surface of the 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 109 



earth, so that the smallest movement of the 
Indians could be seen. 

Within the isle were gathered the powers of 
the Pequot and Naraganset tribes, with their 
wives, families, and valuable things ; the want 
of leaves and thick foliage allowed no ambush, 
and the savage must fight openly beside his 
own hearth and store. It was the close of day 
when the colonists came up to the place ; a 
fort, a blockhouse, and a wall that passed round 
the isle, proved the skill, as well as resolution, 
of the assailed; the frozen shores and water 
were quickly covered with the slain, and then 
the Indians fought at their doors and around 
their children, till all was lost, and a thousand 
of them fell. Philip fled with his surviving 
forces to a distant position, where it was im- 
possible to follow him. Concord, one of the 
first settlements of Eliot, and one or two other 
towns, were this winter destroyed, and its poor 
people turned from their dwellings into all the 
rigours of the winter; many perished in the 
woods or amidst the snows, or by the secret 
and sudden ambushes of the enemy. 




10 



110 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



MISFORTUNES OF PHILIP. 

The last defeat, in which his best fighting 
men were slain, had broken the power, but not 
the spirit, of Philip. Unable to meet the colo- 
nists in the open field, he harassed them in a 
thousand ways, so that, as the spring advanced, 
the more industrious and timid were thrown 
into the extremity of despair, and said, " How 
shall we wade through another summer like 
the last ? ?? But the chief was now a wandering 
exile ; his paternal dominion was taken ; the 
singular friendship of Quanonchet, " the mighty 
sachem of the Naragansets," was his last sup- 
port. The fidelity of this man was tried to the 
uttermost: he had received the fugitive with 
open arms ; rallied all his forces around him ; 
they fought, side by side, with the heroism of 
men on the last strand of their country ; were 
defeated, and fled together, without a reproach 
or complaint on either side ; they retreated yet 
farther into the interior, and, by their persua- 
sions, engaged other tribes in the cause ; but, at 
this moment, the Maquas, a powerful nation in 
the west, made a descent on them, and wasted 
their band. In spite of these disasters, they 
again advanced* 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. Ill 



CLOSE OF THE WAR. 

Eliot, during these troubles, was subjected to 
much contempt and reproach. His efforts to 
protect his people, and watch over their inte- 
rests, were incessant; but so strong was the 
suspicion against them, that the colonists, not 
content with confining a great number of them 
in Long Island, inflicted on them many suffer- 
ings, and a few of the more cruel said that they 
were worthy of death. 

But the war began to draw to a close : Qua- 
nonchet, venturing out with a few followers 
near the enemy, was pursued and taken. His 
behaviour under his misfortunes was very noble 
and affecting; for when repeated offers were 
made him of life, if he would deliver up Philip, 
and submit his own people to the English, he 
proudly rejected them. They condemned him 
to die, and, by a refinement of cruelty, by the 
hands of three young Indian chiefs. The he- 
roic man said, "that he liked it well, for he 
should die before his heart was soft, or he had 
spoken any thing unworthy of himself." 

Philip was deeply moved by the death of the 
chieftain, for their friendship was like that of 
David and Jonathan, strongest in misery and 
exile. He was not yet left desolate: his be- 
loved wife and only child were with him. 
They had shared all his sufferings ; in his 
nights, his inroads, his dwellings in the swamps, 
they seem never to have left his side. The un- 



112 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



fortunate prince now returned to Mount Hope, 
the scene of his former power and happiness ; 
it was for no purpose of defence that he came, 
for it was too near the English settlements, but 
merely to visit it once more. "He finds it* 
says Mather, "to be Mount Misery, Mount 
Confusion P 

No doubt it was so to his bleeding spirit; 
for, with all his savage propensities, this prince 
was susceptible of some of the finest feelings 
of our nature. He sat down mournfully on the 
beautiful Mount, on which were now the ruins 
of his fortress and camp ; but he could not re- 
main long here, for the feet of his pursuers 
were nigh, and he was compelled to seek his 
distant retreats again: — there was a greater 
agony in store for him than the sight of his 
ruined home. 

Early one morning, his quarters were sur- 
prised by the English, most of his followers 
slain, and his wife and son made captive. The 
chief fled, broken-hearted, but unsubdued, leav- 
ing all he loved on earth in the hands of those 
who had no mercy. " This was no small tor- 
ment to Him/ 3 quaintly says the historian. " Wo 
to him that spoileth ! His peag, or silver belt, 
the ensign of his princedom, also remained in 
our hands, so hardly did he escape/' The mea- 
sure of his woes was not yet full. The Indian 
princess of Pocasset was warmly attached to 
his cause, and had more than once aided him 
in his extremity ; she had received him beneath 
her roof, soothed his sorrows, and, what was 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



113 



more, summoned her people to fight for him ; 
and saved him and his people in her canoes the 
year before. Now, she followed him in his 
flight, and, as the more devout said, as if by a 
judgment, could not find a canoe to transport 
her, and, venturing over the river upon a raft, 
it broke under her, and she was drowned. Her 
body was soon after washed on shore, and the 
English, forgetful of all decency and delicacy 
to a woman of her rank, though a savage, cut 
off her head, and placed it on high, which, 
when the Indians who were her people saw, 
they gathered round, and gave way to the most 
sad and touching lamentations. 

Philip now began, like Saul of old, when 
earth was leaving him, to look to the powers 
beyond it, and to apply to his magicians and 
sorcerers, who, on consulting their oracles, 
assured him that no Englishman should ever 
kill him. This was a vague consolation, yet it 
seems to have given him, for a while, a confi- 
dence in his destiny, and he took his last stand 
in the middle of a distant and almost inacces- 
sible swamp. It was a fit retreat for a despair- 
ing man, being one of those waste and dismal 
places to which few ever wandered, covered 
with rank and dense vegetation. The moist 
soil was almost hidden by the cypress and other 
trees, that spread their gloomy shades over the 
treacherous shallows and pools beneath. 

In the few drier parts, oaks and pines grew, 
and, between them, a brushwood so thick, that 
the savage could hardly penetrate : on the long 
10* 



114 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



rich grass of these parts, wild cattle fed. un- 
assailed by the hand of man, save when they 
ventured beyond the confines of the swamp. 
There were wolves, deer, and other animals ; 
and wilder men, it was said, were seen here ; it 
was supposed that the children of some of the 
Indians had either been lost or left here, and 
had thus grown up like denizens of this wild. 
Here the baffled chieftain gathered his little 
band around him, like a lion baited by the 
hunters, sullenly seeking his gloomy thickets, 
only to spring forth more fatally ; despair was 
his only friend ; for what other was now left : 
his love was turned to agony ; his wife was in 
the hand of his enemies ; and would they spare 
her beauty ? His only son, the heir of his long 
line, must bow his head to their yoke ; his chief 
warriors had all fallen, and he could not trust 
the few who were still with him. 

Quanonchet, whose fidelity and attachment 
were stronger than death, was in the land of 
spirits, chasing the shadowy deer, and solaced 
with many wives ; for Philip, to the last, be- 
lieved in the religion of his country. In this 
extremity, an Indian proposed to seek peace 
with the English ; — the prince instantly laid him 
dead at his feet. This man had a friend, who, 
disgusted with the deed, soon after fled from the 
place to Rhode Island, where the English were 
recruiting their weary forces, and betrayed the 
place of his retreat. On this intelligence, a 
body of forces instantly set out. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 115 



DEATH OF PHILIP. 

The night before his death, Philip, " like him 
in the army of Midian," says the historian, 
" had been dreaming that he was fallen into the 
hands of the English ; he awoke in great alarm, 
and told it to his friends, and advised them to 
fly for their lives, for that he believed it would 
come to pass." The place was well suited to 
awake all the terrors of the imagination; to 
any eye but that of the savage, it was like the 
" valley of the shadow of death \" the cypress 
and oak trees hung heavy and still, over the 
accursed soil ; the faint gleam of the pools and 
sluggish lakes on every side, in the starlight, 
and the howl of the wolf, fitfully, as if it 
warned that the hour was nigh. " Now, just 
as he was telling his dream, Captain Church, 
with his company, fell in upon them." They 
had been guided by the deserter to the swamp, 
and, with great difficulty, across some felled 
trees, into its labyrinths. The battle was fierce 
and short: Philip fought till he saw almost 
every follower fall in his defence, then turned, 
and fled ; he was pursued by an Englishman 
and an Indian; and, as if the oracle was 
doomed to be fulfilled, the musket of the former 
would not go off*; and the latter fired, and shot 
him through the heart. 

With his death, all resistance ceased ; his 
dominions fell into the hands of the colonists, 
and peace was restored to the settlements, but 



116 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



prosperity came not with it. It was a cruel 
blow to Eliot, nearly all whose life had been 
given u> his beloved cause, to look around on 
im ^iantations ravaged, the dwellings empty, 
the defences broken, and, more than all, the 
spirit of his people in despair. Of twelve 
towns, at the beginning of the war, four only 
were now undestroyed. 



CANONICUS. 

The Narragansets, possessed the country 
about Narraganset Bay, including Rhode Island, 
and other Islands in that vicinity, and a part of 
Connecticut. Canonicus was their great war- 
rior Sachem. This tribe is described by our 
early historians 6 as a great people/ capable of 
raising 4000 warriors. Canonicus lived to an 
advanced age, and died according to Gov. 
Winthrop, June 4th, 1647. He discovered a 
generous mind in receiving Rev. Roger Williams 
when in great distress, and affording him a 
friendly protection. Mr. Williams mentioned 
his name with respect and acknowledged his 
obligation to him thus in a manuscript letter to 
the Governor of Massachusetts. After obser- 
ving that many hundreds of the English were 
witnesses to the friendly disposition of the Nar- 
ragansets, he says : 6 Their late long lived Ca- 
nonicus so lived and died, in the same most 
honorable manner and solemnity (in their way) 
as you laid to sleep your prudent peace-maker 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 117 



Mr. Winthrop, did they honor this their prudent 
and peaceable prince ; yea, through all their 
towns and countries how frequently do many 
and oft times of Englishmen travel alone with 
safety and loving kindness V On one occasion 
Canonicus thus addressed Roger Williams : 6 1 
have never suffered any wrong to be done to 
the English since they landed, nor never will. 
If the English speak true, if he mean truly, 
then shall I go to my grave in peace, and I 
hope that the English and my posterity shall 
live in love and peace together/ 6 His heart/ 
says Mr. Williams, 6 was stirred up to love me 
as his son to the last gasp.' However partial 
Canonicus may have been to Rev. Mr. Williams, 
he was not uniformly friendly to the settlers in 
general. It appears in Gov. Winslow's Good 
News from New England, that in February, 
1622, this chief sent into Plymouth, a bundle 
of arrows bound together with a rattle-snake's 
skin. This was received as it was intended, a 
challenge for war. Gov. Bradford filled the 
rattle-snake skin with powder and shot and re- 
turned it to Canonicus, with a message of de- 
fiance which produced the desired effect. Ca- 
nonicus was so frightened that he dared not 
touch the article and soon returned it to Ply- 
mouth and became silent and peaceable. 



118 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



C HICK ATAUBUT. 

Chickataubut, was a sachem of considerable 
note among the Massachusetts tribe, and one 
of those who, in 1621, acknowledged them- 
selves the subjects of King James. He was 
Sachem of Passonagesit (Weymouth.) where 
his mother was buried. In Drake's Indian Bi- 
ography the following is related from Thomas 
Morton's New Canaan. In the first settling of 
Plymouth, some of the company in wandering 
about upon discovery, came upon an Indian 
grave, which was of the mother of Chicka- 
taubut. Over the body a stake was set in the 
ground, and two huge bear skins sewed to- 
gether spread over it; these the English took 
away. When this came to the knowledge of 
Chickataubut, he complained to his people and 
demanded immediate vengeance. When the} 
were assembled, he thus harangued them; 
6 When last the glorious light of all the sky was 
underneath the globe and birds grew silent, I 
began to settle as my custom is to take repose ; 
before mine eyes were fast closed, me thought I 
saw a vision, at which my spirit was much 
troubled, and trembling at that doleful sight 
cried aloud ; Behold ! my son, whom I have 
cherished, see the paps that gave thee suck, the 
hands that clasped thee warm, and fed thee oft, 
canst thou forget to take revenge on those wild 
people that hath my monument defaced in a 
despiteful manner ; disdaining our ancient an- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES* 



119 



tiquities, and honorable customs. See now the 
Sachem's grave lies, like unto the common 
people of ignoble race, defaced. Thy mother 
doth complain, implores thy aid against this 
thievish people newly come hither; if this be 
suffered I shall not rest in quiet within my 
everlasting habitation. 5 Battle was the unani- 
mous resolve, and the English were watched 
and followed from place to place, until at length 
as some were going ashore in a boat, they fell 
upon them, but gained little advantage. After 
maintaining the fight for some time, and being 
driven from tree to tree, the chief captain was 
wounded in the arm and the whole took to 
flight. This action caused the natives about 
Plymouth to look upon the English as invin- 
cible, and was the reason that peace was main- 
tained so long after." 

When Boston was settled Chickataubut 
visited Governor Winthrop, and presented him 
with a hogshead of corn. Many of his < sanops 
and squaws' came with him, but were most of 
them sent away after they had all dined, Chick- 
ataubut probably fearing they would be burden- 
some, although it thundered and rained and the 
Governor urged their stay. At this time he 
wore English clothes, and sat at the Governor's 
table, where he behaved himself soberly, &c. 
as an Englishman. "Not long after he called 
on Governor Winthrop and desired to buy of 
him a suit of clothes for himself, the governor 
informed him that ' English Sagamores did not 
use to truck but he called his tailor and gave 



120 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



him orders to make him a suit of clothes, 
whereupon he gave the governor two large 
skins of coat beaver. The clothes being ready, 
the governor put him into a very good new suit 
from head to foot, and after, he set meat before 
them ; but he would not eat till the governor 
had given thanks, and after meat he desired 
him to do the like, and so departed." 



CONDITION OF THE INDIAN WOMEN. 

Polygamy is not uncommon among them ; 
and the husband occasionally finds it necessary 
to administer a little wholesome castigation to 
his more quarrelsome or refractory squaws. 
But many are satisfied with one wife. The 
care of the tent and the whole drudgery of the 
family devolve on the women. They gather 
fuel, cook the provisions, and repair every 
article of dress; cultivate the ground, where 
any is cultivated; carry the baggage on a 
journey; and pitch the tent when they halt. 
In these and similar employments, their lordly 
fathers, husbands, and brothers, think it de- 
grading to assist them, and unworthy of war- 
riors to engage in such employments. 

Mr. Catlin whose long residence among the 
Indians, and careful observation of their habits, 
entitle his opinion to great respect, regards the 
assignment of drudgery to the women as no 
more than an equitable distribution of the 
labour necessary to the support of the house- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 121 



hold. He considers the toils of war and the 
chase, which are almost incessant, and are solely- 
performed by the men, as a complete offset to 
the domestic and agricultural cares of the 
women. On the whole he thinks that the con- 
dition of the Indian women is as comfortable 
as it is possible to render it by any arrangement 
which would not completely change their mode 
of life. To withdraw the men from the chase 
and confine them to the culture of the ground, 
would render the Indians an agricultural and 
not a hunting people. Still the condition of the 
Indian woman is a miserable and degraded 
one, — a condition of incessant labour and care. 

In none of the tribes do the women ex- 
perience much tenderness; but among the Sioux 
they are so harshly treated, that they occa- 
sionally destroy their female infants, alleging 
that it is better for them to be put to death than 
to live as miserably as they themselves have 
done. Even suicide is not uncommon among 
them, although they believe it offensive to the 
Father of Life. 

INDIAN EDUCATION. 

-~<rhe Indians never chastise their children, 
especially the boys ; thinking that it would damp 
their spirits, check their love of independence, 
and cool their martial ardour, which they wish 
above all things to encourage. " Reason," say 
they, " will guide our children, when they come 
11 



122 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



to the use of it ; and before that, their faults 
cannot be very great." They avoid compulsory 
measures, and allow the boys to act with un- 
controlled freedom ; but endeavour, by example, 
instruction, and advice, to train them to diligence 
and skill in hunting; to animate them with 
patience, courage, and fortitude in war ; and to 
inspire them with contempt of danger, pain, 
and death, — qualities of the highest order in 
the estimation of an Indian. 

By gentleness and persuasion they endeavour 
to imbue the minds of their children with vir- 
tuous sentiments, according to their notions of 
virtue. The aged chiefs are zealous in this 
patriotic labour, and the squaws give their cor- 
dial co-operation. 

Ishuchenau, an old Kanza warrior, often 
admonished the group of young auditors who 
gathered around him, of their faults, and ex- 
horted them never to tell a lie, and never to 
steal, except from an enemy, whom it is just to 
injure in every possible way. "When you 
become men," said he, " be brave and cunning 
in war, and defend your hunting grounds 
against all encroachments: never suffer your 
squaws and little ones to want ; protect them 
and strangers from insult. On no occasion 
betray a friend ; be revenged on your enemies ; 
drink not the poisonous strong water of the 
white people, for it is sent by the bad spirit to 
destroy the Indians. Fear not death ; none but 
cowards fear to die. Obey and venerate old 
people, particularly your parents, Fear and 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 123 



[ propitiate the bad spirit, that he may do you no 
I harm : love and adore the Good Spirit, who 
made us all, who supplies our hunting grounds, 
and keeps all alive/ ' After recounting his 
7 achievements, he was wont to add, "Like a de- 
U cayed prairie tree, I stand alone : — the friends 
of my youth, the companions of my sports, my 
toils, and my dangers, rest their heads on the 
bosom of our mother. My sun is fast de- 
scending behind the western hills, and I feel it 
will soon be night with me." Then with hands 
and eyes lifted towards heaven, he thanked the 
Great Spirit for having spared him so long, to 
show the young men the true path to glory 
and fame.- 

Their opinions, in many instances, are false, 
and lead to corresponding errors in conduct. In 
some tribes, the young person is taught to pray, 
with various superstitious observances, that he 
may be a great hunter, horse-stealer, and war- 
rior; so that thus the fountain of virtue is 
polluted. 

The Indians are entirely unacquainted with 
letters ; but they have a kind of picture writing, 
which they practise on the inside of the bark of 
trees, or on skins prepared for the purpose, and 
by which they can communicate the knowledge 
of many facts to each other. 

The Indian names are descriptive of the real 
or supposed qualities of the person to whom 
they belong: they often change them in the 
course of their lives. The young warrior is 
ambitious of acquiring a new name 5 and stealing 



124 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



a horse, scalping an enemy, or killing a bear, is 
an achievement which entitles him to choose 
one for himself, and the nation confirms it. 

SPEECH OF AN INDIAN TO JOHN ELIOT. 

The following instance is very expressive of 
the fine use the Indians make of simple and 
natural images : — the speaker was dressed in a 
robe of several marten-skins sewed together; 
it was fastened to his right shoulder, and passed 
under his left arm : he wrapped himself up in 
this robe, and said — 

" My heart laughs for joy on seeing myself 
before thee : we have all of us heard the word 
which thou hast sent us. How beautiful is the 
sun to-day ! but lately it was red and angry, for 
our hands were stained with blood ; our toma- 
hawks thirsted for it ; our women howled for 
the loss of their relations ; at the least shriek of 
the birds of night, all our warriors were on foot ; 
the serpents angrily hissed at us, as we passed. 
Those we left behind sang the songs of death. 

" But now our whole nation laughs for joy to 
see us walk on the same road with thyself, to 
join the Father of spirits : our hearts shall make 
but one : come with us to the forests ; come to 
our homes by the great river ; we shall plant 
the tree of life, of which thou speakest, there, 
and our warriors shall rest beneath its leaves ; 
and thou shalt tell us more of that land where 
there is no storm or death, and the sun is always 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



125 



bright. Will not that be good? What dost 
thou say to it, my father ?" 



RELIGION OF THE INDIANS. 

Of the religion of the Indians we have no 
full and clear account. Indeed, of the opinions 
of a people who have nothing more than a 
few vague and indefinite notions, no distinct 
explanation can be given. On this subject the 
Indians are not communicative ; and to obtain 
a thorough knowledge of it would require 
familiar, attentive, unsuspected, and unpreju- 
diced observation. But such observation is not 
easily made ; and a few general, and on some 
points uncertain, notices only can be given. 

On looking at the most renowned nations of 
the ancient heathen world, we see the people 
prostrating themselves before innumerable di- 
vinities; and we are ready to conclude that 
polytheism is the natural belief of man, unen- 
lightened by revelation. But a survey of the 
vast wilds of America will correct this opinion. 
For there we find a multitude of nations, widely 
separated from each other, all believing in One 
Supreme God, a great and good spirit, the father 
and master of life, the maker of heaven and 
earth, and of all other creatures. They believe 
themselves entirely dependent on him, thank 
him for present enjoyments, and pray to him for 
the good things they desire to obtain. They 
consider him the author of all good ; and believe 
11* 



126 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



he will reward or punish them according to 
their deeds. 



They believe in inferior spirits also, both 
good and bad; to whom, particularly to the 
good, they give the name of Manitou^ and 
consider them tutelary spirits. The Indians are 
careful observers of dreams, and think them- 
selves deserted by the Master of life, till they 
receive a manitou in a dream ; that is, till they 
dream of some object, as a buffalo or beaver, or 
something else, which they think is an intima- 
tion that the Great Spirit had given them that 
object as a manitou, or medicine. Then they 
are full of courage, and proud of their powerful 
ally. To propitiate the manitou, or medicine, 
every exertion is made, and every personal 
consideration sacrificed. "I was lately the 
proprietor of seventeen horses/' said a Mandan ; 
" but I have offered them all to my medicine, 
and am now poor." He had turned all these 
horses, which constituted the whole of his 
wealth, loose into the plain, committed them to 
his medicine, and abandoned them for ever. 
But, although they offer oblations to the man- 
itous, they positively deny that they pay them 
any adoration, and affirm that they only worship 
the Great Spirit through them. 

They have no regular periodical time either 
of private or public religious worship. They 
have neither temples, altars, stated ministers of 
religion, nor regular sacrifices; for the jugglers 
are connected rather with the medical art than 
with religious services. The Indians in general, 




INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



127 



like other ignorant people, are believers in 
witchcraft, and think many of their diseases 
proceed from the arts of sorcerers. These arts 
the jugglers pretend to counteract, as well as to 
cure natural diseases. They also pretend to 
predict the weather and to make rain; and 
much confidence is placed in their prognostica- 
tions and their power. 

The devotional exercises of the Indians con- 
sist in singing, dancing, and performing various 
mystical ceremonies, which they believe effica- 
cious in healing the sick, frustrating the designs 
of their enemies, and securing their own suc- 
cess. They often offer up to the Great Spirit a 
part of the game first taken in a hunting expe- 
dition, a part of the first produce of their fields, 
and a part of their food. At a feast, they first 
throw some of the broth, and then of the meat, 
into the fire. In smoking, they generally tes- 
tify their reverence for the Master of life, by 
directing the first pulf upwards, and the second 
downwards, or the first to the rising, and the 
second to the setting sun : at other times they 
turn the pipe to every point of the compass. 

They firmly believe in the immortality of the 
soul, and in a state of future retribution : but 
their conceptions on these subjects are modified 
and tinged by their occupations in life, and by 
their notions of good and evil. They suppose 
the spirit retains the same inclinations as when 
in the body, and rejoices in its old pursuits. At 
times, an Indian warrior, when about to kill 



128 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



and scalp a prostrate enemy, addresses him m 
such terms as the following : — 

" My name is Cashegra : I am a famous 
warrior, and am going to kill you. When you 
reach the land of spirits, you will see the ghost 
of my father : tell him it was Cashegra sent 
you there/' The uplifted tomahawk then de- 
scends upon his victim. 

The Mandans* expected, when they died, to 
return to the original subterraneous abode of 
their fathers : the good reaching the ancient vil- 
lage by means of the lake, which the weight 
of the sins of the bad will render them unable 
to pass. They who have behaved themselves 
well in this life, and been brave warriors and 
good hunters, will be received into the town of 
brave and generous spirits ; but the useless and 
selfish will be doomed to reside in the town of 
poor and useless spirits. 

The belief of those untutored children of na- 
ture has an influence on their conduct. Among 
them the grand defect is, an erroneous estimate 
of good and evil, right and wrong. 

* The Mandan tribe is now entirely extinct. — Catlin, 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



129 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PEQUOTS IN 637. 

"An army of a hundred and sixty men, 
under the command of Captain Underhill, were 
despatched, and with them was Uncas, an 
Indian chief: when they landed from the river, 
they were joined by five hundred Narraganset 
Indians. We were now informed that the 
Indians had retired into two impregnable forts, 
one of which was the hold of Sassacus, the 
chief tyrant; that fierce tiger, at the very 
mention of whose name the Narragansets trem- 
bled, saying, " He was all one a God, nobody 
could kill him." The council of war determined 
to fall first upon the fort which they could first 
find; and on their silent march in the moon- 
shiny night, an Indian spy brought them word 
that the Pequots were in a profound sleep. Our 
guide was one Wequash, an Indian revolted 
from them ; and now the Narragansets retired 
into the wood, and behind the trees — they were 
overcome with fear. The English advanced 
against the nearest fort, when a dog, that stood 
sentinel like another Cerberus, barking, awoke 
them all; their cry, when they sprung from 
their sleep, was dreadful to hear in the silent 
night; and thereupon followed a bloody en- 
counter ; many were killed ; but we set fire to 
their huts, and a high wind caused them to be 
quickly consumed; many of the Indians climbed 
to the tops of the palisadoes, and were a mark 
for the bullets ; some of the trees also burning. 



130 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



threw such a fiery light, that with the howlings, 
and cries also, the place was like the pit of 
torment. Samson was not in greater distress 
by thirst after his exploit upon the Philistines, 
than was the mighty Sassacus when his strong 
holds were thus burned, and his barbarians dis- 
missed from a world that was burdened with 
them. The next day, as we were returning, 
three hundred of the enemy again came up, 
like bears bereaved of their young ; they fought, 
and made a fort of every swamp in the way, 
covering their bodies with the green boughs 
and the long grass, so that we were sometimes 
in the very midst of them, and knew it not, 
save by the sudden yell and the volley/' 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



131 



INDIAN COOLNESS. 

Sam Barrow was a famous warrior in Philip's 
war, and for a long time dreaded as a ferocious 
enemy by the inhabitants. He was at length 
captured by Captain Church at Cape Cod. 
Church, in his history, says, that ' he was as 
noted a rogue as any among the enemy/ 
Church told him that the government would 
not permit him to grant him quarter, because of 
his inhuman murders and barbarities, and 
therefore ordered him to prepare for execution. 
Barrow replied, that the sentence of death 
against him was just, and that indeed he was 
ashamed to live any longer, and desired no 
more favor than to smoke a whiff of tobacco 
before his execution. When he had taken a 
few whiffs, he said, 6 1 am ready/ when one of 
Church's Indians, being prepared, sunk his 
hatchet into his brains. 



132 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



THE GREAT MASSACRE OF VIRGINIA. 

The peace which had subsisted since the 
marriage of Pocahontas had lulled the English 
into security, and disposed them to extend their 
plantations along the banks of the rivers, as far 
as the Potomac, in situations too remote from 
each other. Their houses were open and free 
to the natives, who became acquainted with 
their manner of living, their hours of eating, of 
labor and repose, the use of their arms and tools, 
and frequently borrowed their boats, for the 
convenience of fishing and fowling, and to pass 
the rivers. This familiarity was pleasing to the 
English, as it indicated a spirit of moderation, 
which had been always recommended, by the 
Company in England, to the planters ; and, as 
it afforded a favourable symptom of the civil- 
ization and conversion of the natives ; but by 
them, or their leaders, it was designed to con- 
ceal the most sanguinary intentions. 

In the spring of the next year, (1622) an 
opportunity offered, to throw off the mask of 
friendship, and kindle their secret enmity into a 
blaze. Among the natives who frequently 
visited the English, was a tall, handsome, young 
chief, renowned for courage and success in war, 
and excessively fond of finery in dress. His 
Indian name was Nematanow ; but by the 
English he was called Jack of the Feather. 
Coming to the store of one Morgan, he there 
viewed several toys and ornaments, which were 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



133 



very agreeable to the Indian taste; and per- 
suaded Morgan to carry them to Pamunky, 
where he assured him of an advantageous 
traffic. Morgan consented to go with him ; but 
was murdered by the way. 

In a few days, Nematanow came again to the 
store, with Morgan's cap on his head; and 
being interrogated by two stout lads, who 
attended there, what was become of their 
master, he answered that he was dead. The 
boys seized him, and endeavoured to carry him 
before a magistrate ; but his violent resistance, 
and the insolence of his language, so provoked 
them, that they shot him. The wound proved 
mortal ; and when dying, he earnestly requested 
of the boys, that the manner of his death might 
be concealed from his countrymen, and that he 
might be privately buried among the English. 

As soon as this transaction was known, Qpe- 
chancanough demanded satisfaction ; but being 
answered that the retaliation was just, he formed 
a plan for a general massacre of the English, 
and appointed Friday, the twenty-second day 
of March, for its execution ; but he dissembled 
his resentment to the last moment. Parties of 
Indians were distributed through the Colony, to 
attack every plantation, at the same hour of the 
day, when the men should be abroad and at 
work. On the evening before, and on the 
morning of that fatal day, the Indians came as 
usual to the houses of the English, bringing 
game and fish to sell, and sat down with them 
to breakfast. So general was the combination^ 
12 



134 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



and so deep the plot, that about one hour before 
noon, they fell on the people in the fields and 
houses; and, with their own tools and wea- 
pons, killed, indiscriminately, persons of all ages, 
sexes and characters ; inhumanly mangling their 
dead bodies, and triumphing over them, with all 
the expressions of frantic joy. 

Where any resistance was made, it was 
generally successful. Several houses were de- 
fended, and some few of the assailants slain. 
One of Captain Smith's old soldiers, Nathaniel 
Causie, though wounded, split the skull of an 
Indian, and put his whole party to flight. 
Several other parties were dispersed by the 
firing of a single gun, or by the presenting of a 
gun, even in the hands of a woman. 

James-Town was preserved by the fidelity 
of Chanco, a young Indian cqjivert, who lived 
with Richard Pace, and was treated by him as 
a son. The brother of this Indian came to lie 
with him, the night before the massacre, and re- 
vealed to him the plot, urging him to kill his 
master, as he intended to do by his own. As 
soon as he was gone in the morning, Chanco 
gave notice of what was intended, to his master ; 
who, having secured his own house, gave the 
alarm to his neighbours, and sent an express to 
James-Town. Three hundred and forty-nine 
people fell in this general massacre ; of which 
number, six were members of the Council. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



135 



EXPLOIT OF CAPTAIN STANDISH. 

"The 23d of March (1623) being a yearly 
court day, we came to this conclusion; that 
Captain Standish should take as many men as 
he thought sufficient to make his party good, 
against all the Indians in the Massachusetts 
Bay ; and because it is impossible to deal with 
them upon open defiance, but to take them in 
such traps as they lay for others ; therefore that 
he should pretend trade, as at other times ; but 
first go to the English, and acquaint them with 
the plot and the end of his own coming, that by 
comparing it with their carriage toward them, 
he might better judge of the certainty of it, and 
more fitly take opportunity to revenge the same ; 
but should forbear, if it were possible, till such 
time as he could make sure of Wittuwamat, a 
bloody and bold villain, whose head he had 
orders to bring with him. Upon this, Captain 
Standish made choice of eight men, and would 
not take more, because he would prevent 
jealousy. On the next day, before he could go, 
came one of Weston's company to us with a 
pack on his back, who made a pitiful narration 
of their lamentable and weak estate, and of the 
Indians' carriage; whose boldness increased 
abundantly, insomuch as they would take the 
victuals out of their pots, and eat before their 
faces ; yea, if in any thing they gainsayed them, 
they were ready to hold a knife at their breasts. 
He said that, to give them content, they had 



136 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 

hanged one of the company, who had stolen 
their corn, and yet they regarded it not ; that 
another of them had turned savage ; that their 
people had mostly forsaken the town, and made 
their rendezvous where they got their victuals, 
because they would not take pains to bring it 
home $. that they had sold their clothes for corn, 
and were ready to perish with hunger and cold, 
and that they were dispersed into three com- 
panies, having scarcely any powder and shot. 
As this relation was grievous to us, so it gave 
us good encouragement to proceed; and the 
wind coming fair the next day, March 25th, 
Captain Standish being now fitted, set forth for 
Massachusetts. 

" The Captain being come to Massachusetts, 
went first to the ship, but found neither man nor 
dog therein. On the discharge of a musket, the 
Master and some others shewed themselves, 
who were on shore gathering ground-nuts and 
other food. After salutation, Captain Standish 
asked them how they durst so leave the ship, 
and live in such security ? they answered, like 
men senseless of their own misery, that they 
feared not the Indians, but lived and suffered 
them to lodge with them, not having sword nor 
gun, nor needing the same. To which the 
Captain replied, that if there were no cause, he 
was glad. But upon further inquiry, under- 
standing that those in whom John Sanders had 
reposed most confidence were at the plantation, 
thither he went, and made known the Indians' 
purpose, and the end of his own coming ; and 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



137 



told them that if they durst not stay there, it 
was the intention of the Governor and people 
of Plymouth, to receive them, till they could be 
better provided for. These men answered that 
they could expect no better, and it was of God's 
mercy that they were not killed before his 
coming, desiring that he would neglect no 
opportunity to proceed ; hereupon he advised 
them to secrecy and to order one third of their 
company that were farthest off to come home, 
and on pain of death to keep there, himself 
allowing them a pint of Indian corn, to a man, 
for a day, though that was spared out of our 
feed. The weather proving very wet and 
stormy, it was the longer before he could do 
any thing. 

" In the mean time an Indian came to him 
and brought some furs, but rather to get what 
he could from the Captain than to trade ; and 
though the Captain carried things as smoothly 
as he could, yet, at his return, the Indian re- 
ported that he saw by his eyes that he was 
angry in his heart, and therefore began to sus- 
pect themselves discovered. This caused one 
Pecksuot, who was a Pinese (chief) being a man 
of a notable spirit to come to Hobamock 
(Standish's Indian guide and interpreter) and 
tell him that he understood the Captain was 
come to kill himself and the rest of the savages 
there : ' Tell him, said he, we know it, but fear 
him not, neither will we shun him ; but let him 
begin when he dare, he shall not take us at 
unawares.' Many times after, divers of them, 
12* 



138 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



severally or a few together, came to the planta 
tion, where they would whet and sharpen the 
point of their knives before his face, and use 
many other insulting gestures and speeches, 
Among the rest, Wittuwamat bragged of the 
excellency of his knife, on the handle of which 
was pictured a woman's face. 6 But, said he, 
1 have another at home, wherewith I have 
killed both French and English, and that hath a 
man's face on it, and by and by, these two must 
be married.' Further he said of that knife 
which he there had, Hinnaim namen, binnaim 
michen, matt a cuts, that is to say, by and by 
it should see, by and by it should eat, but not 
speak. Also Pecksuot being a man of greater 
stature than the Captain, told him ( though you 
are a great Captain, yet you are but a little 
man ; though I be no Sachem, yet I am a man 
of great strength and courage.' These things 
the Captain observed, but, for the present, bore 
them with patience. 

" On the next day, seeing he could not get 
many of them together at once, but Pecksuot 
and Wittuwamat being together, with another 
man and the brother of Wittuwamat a youth 
of eighteen, putting many tricks on the weaker 
sort of men, and having about as many of his 
own men in the same room, the Captain gave 
the word to his men ; and the door being fast 
shut, be begun himself with Pecksuot and 
snatching the knife from his neck, after much 
struggling killed him therewith ; the rest killed 
Wittuwamat and the other man; the youth 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



139 



they took and hanged. It is incredible, how 
many wounds these men received, before they 
died, not making any fearful noise, but catching 
at their weapons, and striving to the last. Ho- 
bamock stood by as a spectator, observing how 
our men demeaned themselves in the action; 
which being ended, he, smiling, brake forth and 
said, ' Yesterday Pecksuot bragged of his own 
strength and stature, and told you that though 
you were a great Captain, yet you were but a 
little man ; but, to-day, I see you are big enough 
to lay him on the ground.' 

" There being some women, at the same time 
there, Captain Standish left them, in the custody 
of Weston's people, at the town ; and sent word 
to another company, to kill those Indian men 
that were among them. These killed two more ; 
himself with some of his own men, went to 
another place and killed another ; but through 
the negligence of one man, an Indian escaped, 
who discovered and crossed their proceedings. 

" Captain Standish took one half of his men 
with one or two of Weston's and Hobamock, 
still seeking them. At length they espied a file 
of Indians, making toward them; and, there 
being a small advantage in the ground, by 
reason of a hill, both companies strove for it. 
Captain Standish got it ; whereupon the Indians 
retreated, and took each man his tree, letting 
fly their arrows amain, especially at himself and 
Hobamock. Whereupon Hobamock cast off 
his coat, and chased them so fast, that our 
people were not able to hold way with him. 



140 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



They could have but one certain mark, the arm 
and half the face of a notable villian, as he 
drew his bow at Captain Standish, who with 
another, both discharged at him, and brake his 
arm. Whereupon, they fled into a swamp ; 
when they were in the thicket, they parlied but 
got nothing but foul language. So our Captain 
dared the Sachem to come out and fight like a 
man, showing how base and woman-like he 
was, in tonguing it as he did ; but he refused 
and fled. So the Captain returned to the plan- 
tation ; where he released the women and took 
not their beaver coats from them, nor suffered 
the least discourtesy to be offered them. 

"Now were Weston's people resolved to 
leave the plantation, and go to Monhegan, 
hoping to get passage and return to England 
with the fishing ships. The Captain told them, 
that for his own part, he durst live there with 
fewer men than they were ; yet since they were 
otherwise minded, according to his orders from 
the Governor and people of Plymouth, he would 
help them with corn, which he did, scarce 
leaving himself more than brought them home. 
Some of them disliked to go to Monhegan; 
and desiring to go with him to Plymouth, he 
took them into the shallop ; and seeing the 
others set sail, and clear of Massachusetts Bay, 
he took leave and returned to Plymouth, bring- 
ing the head of Wittuwamat, which was set 
up on the fort. 

"This sudden and unexpected execution, 
hath so terrified and amazed the other people 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



141 



who intended to join with the Massachusencks 
against us, that they forsook their houses, 
running to and fro like men distracted ; living 
in swamps, and other desert places, and so 
brought diseases upon themselves, whereof 
many are dead ; as Canacum, Sachem of Ma- 
nomet ; Aspinet, of Nauset ; and Ianough, of 
Matachiest. This Sachem, (Ianough) in the 
midst of these distractions, said, ' the God of 
the English was offended with them, and would 
destroy them in his anger/ From one of 
these places, a boat was sent with presents to 
the Governor, hoping thereby to work their 
peace ; but the boat was lost, and three of the 
people drowned; only one escaped, who re- 
turned; so that none of them durst come 
among us." 



142 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



SINGULAR EXPEDIENT OF COLUMBUS. 

In one of his later voyages at sea he met 
with tempestuous weather of long continuance ; 
in which his ships were so shattered, that with 
the utmost difficulty he kept them above water, 
till he ran them ashore on the island of Ja- 
maica. By his extraordinary address, he pro 
cured from the natives two of their largest ca- 
noes ; in which two of his most faithful friends, 
Mendez and Fiesco, accompanied by some of 
his sailors and a few Indians, embarked for 
Hispaniola. After encountering the greatest 
difficulties in their passage, they carried tidings 
of his misfortune to Ovando, and solicited his 
aid. The merciless wretch detained them eight 
months, without an answer; during which 
time, Columbus suffered the severest hardships, 
from the discontent of his company, and the 
want of provisions. By the hospitality of the 
natives, he at first received such supplies, as 
they were able to spare ; but the long continu- 
ance of these guests had diminished their store, 
and the insolence of the mutineers gave a check 
to their friendship. In this extremity, the fer- 
tile invention of Columbus suggested an expe- 
dient which proved successful. He knew that 
a total eclipse of the moon was at hand, which 
would be visible in the evening. On the pre- 
ceding day, he sent for the principal Indians, to 
speak with them, on a matter of the utmost im- 
portance. Being assembled, he directed his in- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 143 



terpreter to tell them, that the God of heaven, 
whom he worshipped, was angry with them, 
for withholding provision from him, and would 
punish them with famine and pestilence ; as a 
token of which, the moon would, in the even- 
ing, appear of an angry and bloody colour. 
Some of them received his speech with terror, 
and others with indifference; but when the 
moon rose, and the eclipse increased as she ad- 
vanced from the horizon, they came in crowds, 
loaded with provision, and begged the Admiral 
to intercede with his God, for the removal of 
his anger. Columbus retired to his cabin ; and 
when the eclipse began to go off, he came out 
and told them, that he had prayed to his God, 
and had received this answer; that if they 
would be good for the future, and bring him 
provision as he should want, God would for- 
give them; and as a token of it, the moon 
would put on her usual brightness. They gave 
him thanks, and promised compliance ; and 
whilst he remained on the island there was no 
more want of provision. 



144 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



ADVENTURES OF JAMES C ARTIER IN CANADA. 

After spending some time in exploring the 
northern coast, to find an opening to the north- 
ward; in the beginning of September, 1535, he 
sailed up the river St. Lawrence and discovered 
several islands ; one of which, from the multi- 
tude of filberts, he called Coudres; and an- 
other, from the vast quantity of grapes, he 
named Bacchus, (now Orleans.) This island 
was full of inhabitants who subsisted by fishing. 

When the ships had come to anchor between 
the N. W. side of the island and the main, Car- 
tier went on shore with his two young Savages. 
The people of the country were at first afraid 
of them ; but hearing the youths speak to them 
in their own language, they became sociable, 
and brought eels and other fish, with a quan- 
tity of Indian corn in ears, for the refreshment 
of their new guests ; in return for which, they 
were presented with, such European baubles as 
were pleasing to them. 

The next day, Donacona, the prince of the 
place, came to visit them, attended by twelve 
boats ; but keeping ten of them at a distance, 
he approached with two only, containing six- 
teen men. In the true spirit of hospitality, he 
made a speech, accompanied with significant 
gestures, welcoming the French to his country 
and offering his service to them. The young 
savages, Taignoagni and Domagaia answered 
him, reporting all which they had seen in 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



145 



France, at which he appeared to be pleased. 
Then approaching the Captain, who held out 
his hand, he kissed it, and laid it round his own 
neck, in token of friendship. Carrier, on his 
part, entertained Donacona with bread and 
wine, and they parted mutually pleased. 

The next day Carrier went up in his boat to 
find a harbour for his ships ; the season being 
so far advanced that it became necessary to se- 
cure them. At the west end of the isle of 
Bacchus, he found "a goodly and pleasant 
sound, where is a little river and haven ; about 
three fathom deep at high water." To this he 
gave the name of St. Croix, and determined 
there to lay up his ships. 

Near this place was a village called Stada- 
cona, of which Donacona was the Lord. It 
was environed with forest trees, some of which 
bore fruit; and under the trees, was a growth 
of wild hemp. As Carrier was returning to his 
ships, he had another specimen of the hospi- 
table manners of the natives. A company of 
people, of both sexes, met him on the shore of 
the little river, singing and dancing up to their 
knees in water. In return for their courtesy, 
he gave them knives and beads ; and they con- 
tinued their music till he was beyond hearing it. 

When Cartier had brought his ships to the 
harbour and secured them, he intimated his in- 
tention to pass in his boats up the river to Ho- 
cheloga. Donacona was loath to part with 
him ; and invented several artifices to prevent 
his going thither. Among others, he contrived 
13 



146 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



to dress three of his men in black and white 
skins, with horns on their heads, and their faces 
besmeared with coal, to make them resemble 
infernal spirits. They were put into a canoe 
and passed by the ships ; brandishing their 
horns and making an unintelligible harangue. 
Donacona, with his people, pursued and took 
them, on which they fell down as if dead. 
They were carried ashore into the woods, and 
all the savages followed them. A long dis- 
course ensued, and the conclusion of the farce 
was, that these demons had brought news from 
the God of Hochelaga, that his country was so 
full of snow and ice, that whoever should ad- 
venture thither would perish with the cold. 
The artifice afforded diversion to the French, 
but was too thin to deceive them. Cartier de- 
termined to proceed; and on the 19th of Sep- 
tember, with his pinnace and two boats, began 
his voyage up the river to Hochelaga. 

Among the woods on the margin of the river 
were many vines loaded with ripe grapes, than 
which nothing could be a more welcome sight 
to Frenchmen, though the fruit was not so deli- 
cious as they had been used to taste in their 
own country. Along the banks were many 
huts of the natives ; who made signs of joy as 
they passed ; presented them with fish ; piloted 
them through narrow channels; carried them 
ashore on their backs, and helped them to get 
off their boats when aground. Some presented 
their children to them, and such as were of 
proper age were accepted. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 147 

The water at that time of the year being 
low, their passage was rendered difficult ; but 
by the friendly assistance of the natives they 
surmounted the obstructions. On the 28th of 
September they passed the rapids between the 
islands in the upper part of the lake Ango- 
leme, (now called St. Peter's) and on the second 
of October they arrived at the island of Ho- 
chelaga; where they had been expected, and 
preparations were made to give them a wel- 
come reception. About a thousand persons 
came to meet them, singing and dancing, the 
men on one side, the women on the other, and 
the children in a distinct body. Presents of 
fish and other victuals were brought, and in re- 
turn were given knives, beads and other trin- 
kets. The Frenchmen lodged the first night in 
their boats, and the natives watched on the 
shore, dancing round their fires during the 
whole night. 

The next morning Cartier, with twenty-five 
of his company, went to visit the town, and 
were met on the way by a person of distinction, 
who bade them welcome. To him they gave 
two hatchets and two knives, and hung over 
his neck a cross which they taught him to kiss. 
As they proceeded, they passed through groves 
of oak, from which the acorns were fallen and 
lay thick on the ground. After this they came 
to fields of ripe corn, some of which was ga- 
thered. In the midst of these fields was situate 
the town of Hochelaga. 

It was of a round form, encompassed with 



148 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



three lines of palisades, through which was 
one entrance, well secured with stakes and bars. 
On the inside was a rampart of timber, to 
which were ascents by ladders, and heaps of 
stones were laid in proper places for defence. 
In the town were about fifty long huts built 
with stakes and covered with bark. In the 
middle of each hut was a fire, round which 
were lodging places, floored with bark and 
covered with skins. In the upper part was a 
scaffold, on which they dried and preserved 
their corn. To prepare it for eating, they 
pounded it in wooden mortars, and having 
mixed it with water, baked it on hot stones. 
Besides corn they had beans, squashes and 
pumpkins. They dried their fish and preserved 
them in troughs. These people lived chiefly 
by tillage and fishing, and seldom went far 
from home. Those on the lower parts of the 
river were more given to hunting, and consi- 
dered the Lord of Hochelaga as their sovereign, 
to whom they paid tribute. 

When the new guests were conducted to an 
open square in the centre of the town, the fe- 
males came to them, rubbing their hands and 
faces, weeping with joy at their arrival, and 
bringing their children to be touched by the 
strangers. They spread mats for them on the 
ground, whilst the men seated themselves in a 
Targe circle on the outside. The King was then 
brought in a litter, on the shoulders of ten men, 
and placed on a mat next to the French Cap- 
tain. He was about fifty years old, and had no 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



149 



mark of distinction but a coronet made of por- 
cupine's quills dyed red; which he took off 
and gave to the Captain, requesting him to rub 
his arms and legs which were trembling with a 
palsy. Several persons, blind, lame, and with- 
ered with age, were also brought to be touched ; 
as if they supposed that their new guests were 
messengers from heaven invested with a power 
of healing diseases. Cartier gratified them as 
well as he could, by laying his hands on them 
and repeating some devotional passages from a 
service book, which he had in his pocket ; ac- 
companying his ejaculations with significant 
gestures, and lifting up his eyes to heaven. The 
natives attentively observed and imitated all his 
motions. 

Having performed this ceremony, he desired 
men, women and children to arrange them- 
selves in separate bodies. To the men he gave 
hatchets, to the women beads, and to the child- 
ren rings. He then ordered his drums and 
trumpets to sound, which highly pleased the 
company and set them to dancing. 

Being desirous of ascending the hill, under 
which the town was built, the natives con- 
ducted them to the summit ; where they were 
entertained with a most extensive and beautiful 
prospect of mountains, woods, islands and wa- 
ters. They observed the course of the river 
above, and some falls of water in it ; and the 
natives informed them that they might sail on 
it for three months ; that it ran through two or 
three great lakes, beyond which was a sea of 
13* 



150 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



fresh water, to which they knew of no bounds.; 
and that on the other side of the mountains 
there was another river which ran in a contrary- 
direction to the southwest, through a country 
full of delicious fruits and free from snow and 
ice ; that there was found such metal as the 
Captain's silver whistle and the haft of a dag- 
ger belonging to one of the company which 
was gilt with gold. Being shown some cop- 
per, they pointed to the northward, and said it 
came from Saguenay. To this hill Cartier gave 
the name of Montreal, which it has ever since 
retained. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 151 



MILLY FRANCIS. 

Duncan M'Krimmon, (a resident of Milledge- 
rille, a Georgia militia man, stationed at Fort 
Gadsden,) being out one morning on a fishing 
excursion, in attempting to return, missed his 
way, and was several days lost in the surround- 
ing wilderness. After wandering about in 
various directions he was espied and captured 
by a party of hostile Indians, headed by the 
well known prophet Francis. The Indians 
having obtained the satisfaction they wanted 
respecting the determination of government, the 
position of the American army, &c. they began 
to prepare for the intended sacrifice. M'Krim- 
mon was bound to a stake, and the ruthless 
savages having shaved his head and reduced 
his body to a state of nudity, formed themselves 
into a circle and danced round him some hours, 
yelling most horribly. The youngest daughter 
of the prophet, about fifteen years of age, re- 
mained sad and silent the whole time. She 
participated not in the general joy, but was 
evidently, even to the affrighted prisoner, much 
pained at the savage scene she was compelled 
to witness. When the burning torches were 
about to be applied to the fagots which en- 
compassed the prisoner, and the fatal tomahawk 
was raised to terminate forever his mortal 
existence, Milly Francis, (for that was her 
name,) like an angel of mercy, placed herself 
between it and death, resolutely bidding the 



152 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



astonished executioner, if he thirsted for human 
blood, to shed hers ; being determined, she said, 
not to survive the prisoner's death. A momen- 
tary pause was produced by this unexpected 
occurrence, and she took advantage of the 
circumstance to implore upon her knees the pity 
of the ferocious father, who finally yielded to 
her wishes ; with the intention, however, it is 
suspected, of murdering them both, if he could 
not sell M'Krimmon to the Spaniards ; which 
was luckily effected a few days after at St. 
Marks, for seven gallons and a half of rum. 
As long as M'Krimmon remained a prisoner 
his benefactress continued to show him acts of 
kindness. The fortune of war since placed her 
in the power of the white people, being com- 
pelled, with a number of others of her tribe 
who were in a starving condition, to surrender 
themselves prisoners. As soon as this fact was 
known to M'Krimmon, in manifestation of a 
due sense of the obligation which he owed to 
the woman who saved his life, at the hazard of 
her own, he sought her to alleviate her misfor- 
tune, and to offer her marriage ; but Hilly would 
not consent to become his wife as a consideration 
of having saved his life, declaring that she did 
no more than her duty, and that her intercessions 
were the same as they would ever have been 
on similar occasions. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 153 



ADVENTURES OF SIMON BUTLER AMONG- THE 
INDIANS. 

Simon Kenton, alias Butler, from humble 
beginnings, made himself conspicuous by dis- 
tinguished services and achievements, in the 
first settlement of this country, and ought to be 
recorded as one of the patriarchs of Kentucky. 
He was born in Virginia, in 1753. He grew to 
maturity without being able to read or write ; 
but from his early exploits, he seems to have 
been endowed with feelings, which the edu- 
cated, and those born in the upper walks of 
life appear to suppose a monopoly reserved for 
themselves. It is recorded of him, that at the 
age of nineteen he had a violent contest with 
another competitor for the favour of the lady 
of his love. She refused to make an election 
between them ; and the subject of this notice 
indignantly exiled himself from his native 
place. After various peregrinations on the long 
rivers of the west, he fixed himself in Ken- 
tucky, and soon became a distinguished par- 
tizan against the savages. In 1774, he joined 
himself to Lord Dunmore, and was appointed 
one of his spies. He made various excursions, 
and performed important services in this em- 
ploy. He finally selected a place for improve- 
ment on the site where Washington now is. 
Returning one day from hunting, he found one 
of his companions slain by the Indians, and his 
body thrown into the fire. He left Washington 



154 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



in consequence, and joined himself to Colone. 
Clark in his fortunate and gallant expedition 
against Vincennes and Kaskaskia. He was 
sent by that commander with despatches for 
Kentucky. He passed through the streets of 
Vincennes, then in possession of the British 
and Indians, without discovery. Arriving at 
White river, he and his party made a raft, on 
which to cross with their guns and baggage, 
driving their horses into the river, and com- 
pelling them to swim it. A party of Indians 
was concealed on the opposite bank, who took 
possession of the horses as they mounted the 
bank, after crossing the river. Butler and his 
company seeing this, continued to float down 
the river on their raft, without coming to land. 
They concealed themselves in the bushes until 
night, when they crossed the river, pursued 1 
their journey, and delivered their despatches. 

After this, Butler made a journey of dis- 
covery to the northern regions of the Ohio ! 
country, and was made prisoner by the In- 
dians. They painted him black, as is their cus- 
tom, when a victim is devoted to torture 5 and 
informed him that he was destined to be burned 
at Chillicothe. Meanwhile, for their own amuse- 
ment, and as a prelude to his torture, they ma- j 
nacled him hand and foot, placed him on an ; 
unbridled and unbroken horse, and turned the 
animal loose, driving it off at its utmost speed, 
with shouts, delighted with witnessing its mode 
of managing under its living burden. The I 
horse, unable to shake off this new and strange 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



155 



incumbrance, made for the thickest covert of 
woods and brambles, with the speed of the 
winds. It is easy to conjecture the position and 
sufferings of the victim. The terrified animal 
exhausted itself in fruitless efforts to shake off 
its load, and worn down and subdued, brought 
Butler back to the camp amidst the exulting 
yells of the savages. 

Having arrived within a mile of Chillicothe, 
they halted, took Butler from his horse, and 
tied him to a stake, where he remained twenty- 
four hours in one position. He was taken from 
the stake to 'run the gauntlet.' The Indian 
mode of managing this kind of torture was as 
follows : The inhabitants of the tribe, old and 
young, were placed in parallel lines, armed 
with clubs and switches. The victim was to 
make his way to the council house, through 
these files, every member of which struggled to 
beat him, as he passed, as severely as possible. 
If he reached the council house alive, he was 
to be spared. In the lines were nearly six 
hundred Indians, and Butler had to make his 
way almost a mile in the endurance of this in- 
fernal sport. He was started by a blow ; but 
soon broke through the files, and had almost 
reached the council house, when a stout war- 
rior knocked him down with a club. He was 
severely beaten in this position, and taken back 
again into custody. 

It seems incredible, that they sometimes res- 
cued their prisoners from these tortures, adopted 
them, and treated them with the utmost lenity 



156 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



I 



and even kindness. At other times, ingenuity 
was exhausted to invent tortures, and every re- 
newed endurance of the victim seemed to sti- 
mulate their vengeance to new discoveries of 
cruelty. Butler was one of these ill-fated sub- 
jects. No way satisfied with what they had 
done, they marched him from village to village, 
to give all a spectacle of his sufferings. He ran | 
the gauntlet thirteen times. He made various j 
attempts to escape ; and in one instance would 
have effected it, had he not been arrested by 
some savages who were accidentally returning 
to the village from which he was escaping. It 
was finally determined to burn him at the lower 
Sandusky, but an apparent accident changed 
his destiny. 

In passing to the stake, the procession went 
by the cabin of Simon Girty, who had just re- | 
turned from an unsuccessful expedition to the 
frontiers of Pennsylvania. The wretch burned 
with disappointment and revenge ; and hearing 
that there was a white man going to the tor- j 
ture, determined to wreak his vengeance on 1 
him. He found the unfortunate Butler, threw 
him to the ground, and began to beat him. 
Butler, who instantly recognized in Girty a for- 
mer companion of his youth, made himself 
known to him. His savage heart relented. He 
raised him up, and promised to use his influ- 
ence to save him. Girty had a council called, 
and he moved the savages to give Butler up to 
him. He took the unfortunate man home, fed, j 
and clothed him, and Butler began to recruit 



i 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



157 



from his wounds and torture. But the relenting 
of the savages in his favour was only mo- 
mentary. After five days, they repented of 
their relaxation in his favour, reclaimed him, 
and marched him to Lower Sandusky to be 
burned, according to their original purpose. By 
a surprising coincidence, he there met the In- 
dian agent from Detroit, who from motives of 
humanity, exerted his influence with the sa- 
vages for his release, and took him with him to 
Detroit, Here he was paroled by the governor. 
He escaped, and by a march of thirty days 
through the wilderness, reached Kentucky. 




14 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



INGENUITY IN TORTURE. 

An instance of the keenness of Indian inge- 
nuity in the invention of original modes of 
torture, is given in Flint's Indian Wars. The 
Indians captured a young man of the name of 
Moses Hewitt, who lived on the Little Hock 
hocking, and was a member of the Marietta 
settlement. He was remarkable for the sup- 
pleness of his limbs, and the swiftness of his 
running. The Indians tested him with their 
champion racers, and, although he could not 
have run with much spirit, under his depressing 
circumstances, he easily vanquished them all in 
swiftness. They affected to be pleased, but 
their envy was piqued. They were destitute 
of provisions, and wished to secure their swift- 
footed prisoner, while they were occupied in 
their hunt. With this view, and probably to 
torture him at the same time, they fastened his 
wrists by crossing them, and binding them 
firmly with a cord. They then tied his arms to 
a stake, so as partly to raise the upper part of 
his body. They fastened his legs in the same 
way, and partly cut off a young sapling, bend- 
ing it down, so that the weight of the lower 
part of his body would be a counterpoise to the 
elastic force of the curved tree. Thus was he 
partially raised by his hands and feet, in a way 
most horribly painful; and yet in a position 
where death would be slow in arriving to his 
release. It was like the torture of killing by 



!i 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



159 



dropping water on the head. Fortunately the 
young man had remarkably slender wrist bones. 
When left alone to meditate upon his terrible 
situation, he contrived, not without disengaging 
the skin and flesh from his wrists, to disentangle 
his arms from their manacles, and finally his 
legs. He picked up a little of the scraps of 
jerked meat, which the Indians had left. To 
baffle their pursuit and that of their dogs, he 
ran on the bodies of fallen trees, and meandered 
his course in every direction. Such was the 
adroitness of his management, that he put them 
completely at fault, escaped them, and came in 
to the settlement of Marietta, wounded, his 
flesh torn and mangled, and emaciated to a 
skeleton — a living proof how much man can 
survive before he suffers the mortal pang. He 
had been absent fourteen days. 



160 INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



OSCEOLA. 

On one occasion, Osceola acted as guide to a 
party of horsemen, and finding that, at starting, 
they proceeded slowly, he enquired the cause. 
On being told that it was on his account, with 
one of those smiles he alone can give, he bade 
them proceed more rapidly. They put spurs to 
their steeds, and he, a-foot, kept up with them 
during the entire route, nor did he exhibit the 
slightest symptoms of fatigue, at the close of 
day, but arrived at the point proposed, as early 
as the mounted body. To Col. Gadsden, sole 
Commissioner at the Treaty of Payne's Landing, 
Osceola rendered good service, at the head of 
thirty or forty warriors, posting himself nearer 
to the Colonel's position than the other Indians, 
and saying, he was more like the white man 
than they. He did not sign the treaty then and 
there made, nor did he refuse so to do. The 
fact is, he was never asked to subscribe his 
name thereto, being at that time, but a Tuste- 
nugge and of little note. This treaty must not 
be confounded with the subsequent agreement 
that Osceola finally signed, and into which he 
is said to have plunged his knife, when called 
on for his signature. The negotiations at 
Payne's landing were in the time of Tuckasee 
Emathia, or the Ground Mole Warrior, Chief 
of the Micasuky tribe. At that date it was not 
known of Powell, as Cotton Mather says of 
Roger Williams, that » the whole country was 
soon like to be set on fire by the rapid motion 
of a wind mill in the head of this one man." 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



161 



GRATITUDE OF OSCEOLA, 

Osceola's agency, and that of his Lieutenant 
Tom, in Omathla's death, and his killing Gen. 
Thompson, with the rifle presented him by the 
General, militate against the favourable estimate 
of his character. But that all his goodly 
feelings were not utterly eradicated, is proven 
by an incident, in the interview with Gen. 
Gaines' command. On that occasion, Osceola 
anxiously inquired after Lieut. John Grahame, 
and on being informed that he was wounded, 
stoutly denied it. On being asked why he was 
so positive that Lieut. G. was unhurt, he replied 
that he had imperatively ordered his people 
never to molest that young man, and he knew 
no one who would dare disobey him ; none 
should, and live ! It was then admitted, that 
though the brothers, Grahame, had been woun- 
ded, yet Lt. G. had escaped injury ; at which 
admission Osceola greatly joyed. It seems that 
Powell has a little daughter, to whom Lt. G. 
was kind, and had presented with frocks, in 
which the young girl, who grew very fond of 
him, always insisted on being dressed, whenever 
she perceived Lieut. G. (for whom she often 
looked out) coming to visit her. Osceola's 
motive in sparing Lieut. G. was gratitude for 
attention to his child, which he also endeavored 
to repay by teaching the Lieut, the Indian 
language, for he spoke a little English, and was 
very intelligent. 

14* 



162 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



THE CROWNING OF POWHATAN. 



The Virginia company in London, deceived 
by false reports, and misled by their own san- 
guine imaginations, had conceived an expecta- 
tion not only of finding precious metals in the 
country, but of discovering the South Sea, from 
the mountains at the head of James-river ; and 
it was thought, that the journey thither, might 
be performed in eight or ten days. For the 
purpose of making this capital discovery, they 
put on board Newport's ship, a barge capable 
of being taken to pieces, and put together again 
at pleasure. This barge was to make a voyage 
to the head of the river, then to be carried in 
pieces across the mountains, and to descend the 
rivers which were supposed to run westward 
to the South Sea. To facilitate this plan, it was 
necessary to gain the favour of Powhatan, 
through whose country the passage must be 
made ; and as means of winning him, a royal 
present was brought over, consisting of a bason 
and ewer, a bed and furniture, a chair of state, 
a suit of scarlet clothes, with a cloak and a 
crown, all which were to be presented to him 
in due form ; and the crown placed on his head, 
with as much solemnity as possible. To a 
person who knew the country and its inhabitants 
so well as Smith, this project appeared chimeri- 
cal, and the means whereby it was to be carried 
on, dangerous. With a small quantity of 
copper and a few beads, he could have kept 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 163 



Powhatan in good humour, and made an ad- 
vantage of it for the colony, whereas a profusion 
of presents he knew would but increase his 
pride and insolence. The project of travelling 
over unknown mountains with men already- 
weakened by sickness, and worn out with 
fatigue, in a hot climate, and in the midst of 
enemies, who might easily cut off their retreat, 
was too romantic even for his sanguine and ad- 
venturous spirit. His opinion upon the matter 
cannot be expressed in more pointed language, 
than he used in a letter to the company. " If 
the quartered boat was burned to ashes, one 
might carry her in a bag, but as she is, five 
hundred cannot, to a navigable place above the 
falls." His dissent however was ineffectual, 
and when he found that the voice of the council 
was for executing it, he lent his assistance to 
effect as much of it as was practicable. 

Previously to their setting out, he undertook, 
with four men only, to carry notice to Powhatan 
of the intended present, and invite him to come 
to James-Town, that he might receive it there. 
Having travelled by land twelve miles to We- 
rocomoco, on Pamunky (York) river, where he 
expected to meet Powhatan, and not finding 
him there, whilst a messenger was dispatched 
thirty miles for him ; his daughter Pocahontas, 
entertained Smith and his company with a 
dance, which for its singularity, merits a par- 
ticular description. 

In an open plain, a fire being made, the 
gentlemen were seated by it. Suddenly a noise 



164 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



was heard in the adjacent wood, which made 
them fly to their arms, and seize on two or 
three old men, as hostages for their own security, 
imagining that they were betrayed. Upon this 
the young princess came running to Smith, and 
passionately embracing him, offered, herself to 
be killed, if any harm should happen to him 
or his company. Her assurances, seconded by 
all the Indians present, removed their fears. 
The noise which had alarmed them, was made 
by thirty girls, who were preparing for the in- 
tended ceremony. Immediately they made 
their appearance, with no other covering than a 
girdle of green leaves and their skins painted, 
each one of a different colour. Their leader 
had a pair of buck's horns on her head, an 
otter's skin as her girdle, and another on one 
arm ; a bow and arrow in the other hand, and 
a quiver at her back. The rest of them had 
horns on their heads, and a wooden sword or 
staff in their hands. With shouting and singing, 
they formed a ring round the fire, and performed 
a circular dance for about an hour, after which 
they retired in the same order as they had ad- 
vanced. The dance was followed by a feast, 
at which the savage nymphs were as eager with 
their caresses as with their attendance ; and this 
being ended, they conducted the gentlemen to 
their lodging by the light of fire brands. 

The next day Powhatan arrived, and Smith 
delivered the message from his father, Newport 
(as he always called him) to this effect. " That 
he had brought him from the King of England, 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



165 



a royal present, and wished to see him at James- 
Town, that he might deliver it to him; pro- 
mising to assist him in prosecuting his revenge 
against the Monacans, whose country they 
would penetrate even to the sea beyond the 
mountains." To which the savage prince with 
equal subtility and haughtiness, answered, " If 
your King has sent me a present, I also am a 
King, and am on my own land. I will stay 
here eight days. Your father must come to me, 
I will not go to him, nor to your fort. As for 
the Monacans, I am able to revenge myself. 
If you have heard of salt water beyond the 
mountains, from any of my people, they have 
deceived you." Then with a stick he drew a 
plan of that region on the ground; and after 
many compliments the conference ended. 

The present being put on board the boats, 
was carried down James-river and up the Pa- 
munky, whilst Newport, with fifty men, went 
across by land and met the boats, in which he 
passed the river, and held the proposed inter- 
view. All things being prepared for the cere- 
mony of coronation, the present was brought 
from the boats ; the bason and ewer were de- 
posited, the bed and chair were set up, the 
scarlet suit and cloak were put on, though not 
till Namontac (an Indian youth whom Newport 
had carried to England and brought back again) 
had assured him that these habiliments would 
do him no harm ; but they had great difficulty 
in persuading him to receive the crown, nor 
would he bend his knee, or incline his head in 



166 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



the least degree. After many attempts, and 
with actual pressing on his shoulders, they at 
last made him stoop a little and put it on. 
Instantly, a signal being given, the men in the 
boats fired a volley, at which the monarch 
started with horror, imagining that a design 
was forming to destroy him in the summit of 
his glory ; but being assured that it was meant 
as a compliment, his fear subsided, and in 
return for the baubles of royalty received from 
King James, he desired Newport to present him 
his old fur mantle and deer skin shoes, which in 
his estimation were doubtless a full equivalent ; 
since all this finery could not prevail on the wary 
chief to allow them guides for the discovery of 
the inland country, or to approve their design 
of visiting it. Thus disappointed they returned 
to James-Town, determined to proceed without 
his assistance. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 167 



THE FLORIDA INDIANS. 

The Palarches, Eamuses and Kaloosas, were 
the ancient possessors of Florida, and are all 
extinct. The present Florida Indians are the 
remains of that ancient and warlike tribe on 
the Mississippi, which being almost extirpated 
by the French, retreated along the Northern 
coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and united with 
broken bands of Biloxies, Red Sticks, and run- 
away Creeks, called Seminoles. The largest 
portion of these Indians are Lower Creeks, and 
are of the most dissolute, daring, and aban- 
doned of that tribe. 

The word Seminole signifies a wanderer or 
runaway, or it means a wild people or outset- 
tiers, the ancestors of the tribe having detached 
themselves from the main body of the Creeks, 
and dwelt remotely, wherever the inducements 
of more game, or greater scope for freedom of 
action, might casually lead them. They settled 
in Florida about 115 years ago. 

That this is the period of their becoming a 
separate community, is confirmed by the con- 
nection of their history with that of the Yema- 
sees, of whom there occur frequent notices in 
the account of the early settlement of Georgia 
and South Carolina. 

In a talk, which the Seminoles about the 
year 1820, transmitted to the American govern- 
ment, they say, alluding to their ancient inde- 
pendence: "An hundred summers have seen 



168 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



the Seminole warrior reposing undisturbed un- 
der the shade of his live oak, and the suns of 
an hundred winters have risen on his ardent 
pursuit of the buck and the bear, with none to 
question his bounds, or dispute his range." 

The greater part of East Florida appears to 
have been originally in possession of the Ye- 
masees — a powerful people, who not only oc- 
cupied this province, but spread themselves 
over Georgia, and into the limits of South 
Carolina, which on its first demarcation was 
bounded on the South by the Altamaha. Some 
of the tribes resided within the present limits 
of that State, in and about Beaufort and Sa- 
vannah River, and also the Sea Islands. Bar- 
tram relates that these people, after a hardy 
contest, and many bloody defeats, were nearly 
exterminated by their ancient enemies the 
Creeks, who had a tradition, that a beautiful 
race of Indians, whose women they called 
Daughters of the Sun, resided amidst the re- 
cesses of the great Oakefanokee wilderness, 
where they enjoyed perpetual felicity, in ever 
blooming islands, inaccessible to human ap- 
proach. 

Bartram with probability supposes, that this 
fable took its rise from a fugitive remnant of 
the Yemasees, who found a refuge in this 
swamp, and were perhaps, after a lapse of 
years, accidentally seen by some of the hunters 
of the Creek nation. 

There is frequent mention, in the early colo- 
nial history of South Carolina, of wars between 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



169 



the first settlers and the Yemasees, the latter 
having been excited to attack the Colony by 
the Spanish authorities in St. Augustine. 

A formidable war was kindled by these peo- 
ple, which would have proved destructive to 
the infant settlement of Carolina, had not timely 
intimation of the danger been obtained by 
means of one of the outsettlers to whom Sa- 
nute, a chief of the hostile Indians, from a feel- 
ing of friendship, gave notice of the impending 
attack. On this occasion the Indians were de- 
feated by Gov. Grant, and driven out of the 
province. Dr. Ramsay mentions that the Ye- 
masees retired into Florida, to which country 
they seem to have been subsequently restricted 
by the increasing power of the whites, and by 
the Creeks. No further mention of them oc- 
curs, until the Seminoles came into notice, by 
whom they were conquered, and nearly exter- 
minated, in 1721, in the manner mentioned by 
Bartram. When in the year 1715, the Yema- 
sees were driven within the limits of Florida, 
they became slaves to the Seminoles. Another 
account states, that the Yemasees left St, Au- 
gustine in a body, in 1722 ; or rather were ex- 
pelled by the Spaniards, who essayed in vain 
to compel them to labours which were regarded 
as degrading drudgeries by the warriors of 
Yemasee. 

The Yemasees were remarkably black peo- 
ple, and the Ocklewahaw tribe, who are of a 
deeper shade than the Seminoles, are descend- 
ants of the conquered race. The chief of the 
15 



170 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



Ocklewahaws, Yaha Hadgo, who was killed by 
General Shelton in the campaign of '36, was 
very dark ; but generally, the Seminole's com- 
plexion is like that of the Creeks. 

Under King Payne, grandfather of Micco- 
nope, (the present Chief) the Seminoles invaded 
and achieved the conquest of the territories 
they lately occupied. He lived to near 100 
years of age, and married a Yemasee woman, 
his slave, by whom he had the late chief Payne, 
who bore, in the darkness of his complexion, a 
proof of his Yemasee descent. 

The Indians were formerly very numerous 
in Florida, perhaps as much so as in Mexico 
They are now reduced to comparatively small 
bands, in few villages. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



171 



GENERAL JACKSON'S CONQUEST OF THE 
INDIANS. 

An artful impostor, Tecumseh of the Shaw 
nees, a man of most extraordinary abilities and 
consummate address, conceived the bold design 
of an union of the red against the white popu- 
lation of America, under a hope that by a gene- 
ral and continued assault along the whole line 
of our frontiers, the future extension of settle- 
ments might be checked, if the present inhabit- 
ants could not be driven into the ocean. As- 
suming the attributes of a prophet, and, among 
other things, assisted by the fortuitous occur- 
rence of an earthquake, of which he had haz- 
arded a prediction, a confidence began to be 
reposed in the sacredness of his character and 
mission. A majority of the Creek nation were 
enlisted in his cause, and the storm of an ex- 
terminating savage war hung over the West. 
Its first explosion was on Fort Mims, a rude 
stockade defence, into which the Southern in- 
habitants of Alabama had lately retreated for 
security. More than 300 persons, including 
women and children, fell victims to savage bar- 
barity. " The slaughter was indiscriminate ; 
mercy was extended to none, and the toma- 
hawk often transfixed mother and child at the 
same stroke. But seventeen of the whole num- 
ber in the fort, escaped to give intelligence of 
the dreadful catastrophe/' In the midst of an 
alarm which such an inhuman outrage was 



172 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



calculated to excite, the eyes of Tennessee were 
turned on Jackson. Though confined at this 
period to his house by a fractured arm, his 
characteristic firmness did not desert him, and 
he cheerfully yielded to a second call for his 
services in the cause of his country. Two 
thousand militia were ordered to assemble at 
Fayetteville in Tennessee, in addition to five 
hundred cavalry previously raised under the 
command of Gen. Coffee. 

The alarming accounts of the concentration 
of the forces of the enemy, with a view of de- 
luging the frontier in blood, compelled General 
Jackson (though individually in a most disabled 
state of body) to take the field before the ranks 
of his army had been filled, or his troops or- 
ganized. 

With this undisciplined force, he prepared for 
active operations; but the wisest dispositions 
were counteracted, and all his movements em- 
barrassed, by the failure of unfeeling and spe- 
culating contractors. 

The enemy were gathering strength, and on 
the advance; they had already threatened a 
fort of Indian allies. In this situation, to re- 
treat was to abandon our frontier citizens to the 
mercy of savages ; to advance, was with the 
certainty of exposure to every privation. 

Jackson hesitated not on the alternative, and 
with but six days' rations of meat, and less than 
two of meal, he moved with his army upon the 
Coosa; and, with Coffee's command, gave a 
most decisive blow to the enemy at Tallus- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



173 



hatchee, in less than twenty-five days after ho 
had marched from the rendezvous at Fayette- 
ville. The loss of the Creeks in this engage- 
ment, was 186 killed, and 84 prisoners. 

Though compelled by the want of supplies 
to return to his depots on the frontier, we find 
him in less than six weeks in the field, at the 
well fought battle of Talledega, and in the sub- 
sequent conflicts at Emuckfau, Enotichopco, 
and Tohopka, annihilating the hopes and ex- 
pectations of the Creeks, and crushing the hy- 
dra of savage hostility in the South. 




15* 



174 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



MASSACRE OF MR. COOLY^S FAMILY. 

On the 6th of January, IS 36, whilst Mr 
Cooly was from home, a party of about thirty 
Indians made an attack upon his family, settled 
at New River, about 12 miles from Cape Flo- 
rida. They murdered his wife, three children, 
and a Mr. Flinton, who was employed as their 
teacher. The children were sitting in the hall, 
getting their lessons, when the Indians came up 
by stealth, and shot them down. Flinton was 
killed on the threshold of the door : the little 
girl about eleven years old was found dead, 
with her book in her hand. As soon as the 
firing commenced, Mrs. Cooly snatched up her 
infant child, and endeavoured to effect their es- 
cape by a back way. She was shot at a dis- 
tance of about one hundred and fifty yards 
from the house : the ball entered between her 
shoulders, and after passing through her breast, 
broke the arm of the child which was cradled 
on her bosom. The little boy, about eight or 
nine years of age, was found in the yard with 
his skull and arm fractured, probably done with 
a billet of wood. Having destroyed all of the 
white inhabitants, they shot the cattle, plun- 
dered the house of property worth from one 
thousand to twelve hundred dollars, took away 
two negroes and all the horses, and finally set 
fire to the house. 

The circumstances attending the murder of 
Mr. Cooly's family, are well calculated to illus- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



175 



, trate the treachery of the Indian character. He 
j had resided among them for many years, spoke 
j their language well, and treated them with uni- 
form kindness and hospitality. Indeed, such 
was his friendship for them, that he named two 
of his sons after their chiefs Alnomock and 
Montezuma. His wife had once been a cap- 
tive among them, and was esteemed a great 
favourite. Standing in this relation, and con- 
fiding in their professions of friendship, which 
lulled him into a fatal security, he left his home 
for a few days, and returned to find it desolate. 
It is a remarkable fact, that the villains who 
perpetrated the deed of death, had not the 
hardihood to scalp the poor mother and her 
three innocent children. Was it the recollection 
of former friendship, that induced them thus to 
spare ? Or were they conscious that their own 
savage colleagues would have blushed for the 
chivalry of those warriors, who could find no 
work more befitting their tomahawks and scalp- 
ing knives, than the cruel butchery of women 
and children ? Did they fear that some chief, 
more feeling than the rest, would ask, 

" Oh wherefore strike the beautiful, the young", 
So innocent, unharming ? Lift the knife, 
If need be, 'gainst the warrior ; but forbear 
The trembling woman." 

The unfortunate schoolmaster shared a dif- 
ferent fate. To him they owed no obligations 
of friendship ; he was a man, and as such, ca- 
pable of resistance; his scalp was therefore 
torn from him, and borne off* as a testimony of 
their savage triumph. 



176 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS. 

In their physical character, the American 
Indians are considered by Blumenbach as 
forming a particular variety of the human 
species, differing, though not very widely, from 
the Mongolian. Believing, as we do, that the 
New World was peopled from the Old, and 
considering that the Mongol race was situated 
nearest to the point where Asia and America 
come almost into contact, we incline to ascribe 
these variations merely to a change of outward 
circumstances. The face is broad and flat, with 
high cheek-bones; more rounded and arched, 
however, than in the allied type, without having 
the visage expanded to the same breadth. The 
forehead is generally low ; the eyes deep, small, 
and black; the nose rather diminutive, but 
prominent, with wide nostrils ; and the mouth 
large, with somewhat thick lips. The stature, 
which varies remarkably throughout the Con- 
tinent, is, in the quarter of which we treat, 
generally above the middle size. This property, 
however, is confined to the men, the females 
being usually below that standard, a fact which 
may be confidently ascribed to the oppressive 
drudgery they are compelled to undergo. The 
limbs, in both sexes, are well proportioned ; 
and few instances of deformity ever occur. 

The colour of the skin in the Indian is 
generally described as red or copper-coloured; 
or, according to Mr. Lawrence's more precise 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



177 



definition, it is " an obscure orange or rusty iron 
colour, not unlike the bark of the cinnamon- 
tree/' Although we believe that climate is the 
chief cause of the diversities in human colour, 
yet it is certain that all savages are dark-tinted. 
This peculiarity may be accounted for by their 
constant exposure to the inclemency of the 
seasons, to sun, air, and tempests ; and the same 
cause in civilized countries produces a similar 
effect on sailors, as well as on those who work 
constantly in the fields. In the Old World, the 
intermediate tints between white and black are 
generally varieties of brown and yellow. The 
red tint is considered characteristic of the New 
World. We must, however, observe, that the 
traveller Adair, who lived upward of thirty 
years among the Indians, positively asserts that 
it is artificially produced ; that in the oil, grease, 
and other unctous substances with which they 
keep their skin constantly smeared, there is 
dissolved the juice of a root which gradually 
tinges it of this colour. He states, that a white 
man, who spent some years with the natives, 
and adorned himself in their manner, completely 
acquired it. Charlevoix seems also to lean to 
the same opinion. Weld, though rather inclined 
to dissent from it, admits that such a notion was 
adopted by missionaries and others who had re- 
sided long in the country. It is certain that the 
inhabitants glory in this colour, and regard 
Europeans who have it not as nondescript 
beings, not fully entitled to the name of men. 
It may be noticed also, that this tint is by no 



178 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 

means so universal as is commonly supposed. 
Humboldt declares that the idea of its general 
prevalence could never have arisen in equinoc- 
tial America, or been suggested by the view of 
the natives in that region ; yet these provinces 
include by far the larger part of the aboriginal 
population. The people of Nootka sound and 
other districts of the north-western coast are 
nearly as white as Europeans 5 which may be 
ascribed, we think, to their ample clothing and 
spacious habitations. Thus the red nations 
appear limited to the eastern tribes of North 
America, among whom generally prevails the 
custom of painting or smearing the skin with 
that favourite colour. We are not prepared to 
express a decided opinion on this subject ; but 
it obviously requires a closer investigation than 
it has yet received. 

The hair is another particular in which the 
races of mankind remarkably differ. The ruder 
classes are generally defective, either in the 
abundance or quality of that graceful appen- 
dage; and the hair of the American Indians, 
like that of their allied type the Mongols, is 
coarse, black, thin, but strong, and growing to a 
great length. Like the latter, also, by a curious 
coincidence, most of them remove it from every 
part of the head, with the exception of a tuft 
on the crown, which they cherish with much 
care. The circumstance, however, which has 
excited the greatest attention, is the absence of 
beard, apparently entire, among all the people 
of the New World. The early travellers viewed 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



179 



it as a natural deficiency; whence Robertson 
and other eminent writers have even inferred 
the existence of something peculiarly feeble in 
their whole frame. But the assertion, with all 
the inferences founded upon it, so far as relates 
to the North American tribes, has been com- 
pletely refuted by recent observation. The 
original growth has been found nearly, if not 
wholly, as ample as that of Europeans ; but the 
moment it appears, every trace is studiously 
obliterated. This is effected by the aged fe- 
males, originally with a species of clam-shell, 
but now by means of spiral pieces of brass-wire 
supplied by the traders. With these an old 
squaw will in a few minutes reduce the chin to 
a state of complete smoothness; and slight 
applications during the year clear away such 
straggling hairs as may happen to sprout. It is 
only among old men, who become careless of 
their appearance, that the beard begins to be 
perceptible. A late English traveller strongly 
recommends to his countrymen a practice which, 
though scarcely accordant with our ideas of 
manly dignity, would, at the expense of a few 
minutes 5 pain, save them much daily trouble. 
The Indians have probably adopted this usage, 
as it removes an obstacle to the fantastic 
painting of the face, which they value so highly. 
A full beard, at all events, when it was first seen 
on their French visiters, is said to have been 
viewed with peculiar antipathy, and to have 
greatly enhanced the pleasure with which they 
killed these foreigners. 



180 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



The comparative physical strength of savage 
and civilized nations has been a subject of 
controversy. A general impression has ob- 
tained that the former, inured to simple and 
active habits, acquire a decided superiority; 
but experience appears to have proved that this 
conclusion is ill founded. On the field of battle, 
when a struggle takes place between man and 
man, the Indian is usually worsted. In sportive 
exercises, such as wrestling, he is most frequently 
thrown, and in leaping comes short of his 
antagonist. Even in walking or running, if for 
a short distance, he is left behind ; but in these 
last movements he possesses a power of per- 
severance and continued exertion ft) which 
there is scarcely any parallel. An individual^ 
has been known to travel nearly eighty miles in j 



a day, and arrive at his destination without any 



symptoms of fatigue. These long journeys/ 
also, are frequently performed without any re- 
freshment, and even having the shoulders loaded 
with heavy burdens, their capacity of support- 
ing which is truly wonderful. For about twelve 
miles, indeed, a strong European will keep 
ahead of the Indian ; but then he begins to flag, 
while the other, proceeding with unaltered pace, / 
outstrips him considerably. Even powerful 
animals cannot equal them in this respect. 
Many of their civilized adversaries, when 
overcome in war, and fleeing before them on 
swift horses, have, after a long chase, been 
overtaken and scalped. 




INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



181 



DRESS OF THE INDIANS. 

Having thus given a view of the persons of 
the Indians, we may proceed to consider the 
manner in which they are clothed and orna- 
mented. This last object might have been ex- 
pected to be a very secondary one, among tribes 
whose means of subsistence are so scanty and 
precarious ; but, so far is this from being the 
case, that there is scarcely any pursuit which 
occupies so much of their time and regard. 
They have availed themselves of European in- 
tercourse to procure each a small mirror, in 
which, from time to time, they view their per- 
sonal decorations, taking care that everything 
shall be in the most perfect order. Embellish- 
ment, however, is not much expended on ac- 
tual clothing, which is simple, and chiefly ar- 
ranged with a view to convenience. Instead 
of shoes, they wear what are termed mocca- 
sins, consisting of one strip of soft leather 
wrapped round the foot, and fastened in front 
and behind. Europeans, walking over hard 
roads, soon knock these to pieces ; but the In- 
dian, tripping over snow or grass, finds them a 
light and agreeable chaussure. Upward to the 
middle of the thigh, a piece of leather or cloth, 
tightly fitted to the limb, serves instead of pan- 
taloons, stockings, and boots ; it is sometimes 
sewed on so close as never to be taken off. To 
a string or girdle round the waist are fastened 
two aprons, one before and the other at the 
16 



182 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



back, each somewhat more than a foot square t 
and these are connected by a piece of cloth like 
a truss, often used also as a capacious pocket. 
The use of breeches they have always repelled 
with contempt, as cumbrous and effeminate. 
As an article of female dress, they would con- 
sider them less objectionable ; but that the limbs 
of a warrior should be thus manacled, appears 
to them utterly preposterous. They were par- 
ticularly scandalized at seeing an officer have 
them fastened over the shoulder by braces, and 
never after gave him any name but Tied- 
Breech. 

The garments now enumerated form the 
whole of their permanent dress. On occasions 
of ceremony, indeed, or when exposed to cold, 
they put over it a short shirt fastened at the 
neck and wrists, and above it a long loose robe, 
closed or held together in front. For this pur- 
pose they now generally prefer an English 
blanket. All these articles were originally fa- 
bricated from the skins of wild animals ; but at 
present, unless for the moccasins, and some- 
times the leggins, European stuffs are preferred. 
The dress of the female scarcely differs from 
that of the male, except that the apron reaches 
down to the knees; and even this is said to 
have been adopted since their acquaintance 
with civilized nations. The early French wri- 
ters relate an amusing anecdote to prove how 
little dress was considered as making a dis- 
tinction between the sexes. The Ursuline nuns, 
having educated a Huron girl, presented her, 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



183 



on her marriage to one of her countrymen, 
with a complete and handsome suit of clothes 
in the Parisian style. They were much sur- 
prised, some days after, to see the husband, 
who had ungenerously seized the whole of his 
bride's attire and arrayed himself in it, parad- 
ing back and forward in front of the convent, 
and betraying every symptom of the most ex- 
travagant exultation. This was farther height- 
ened when he observed the ladies crowding to 
the window to see him, and a universal smile 
spread over their countenances. 

These vestments, as already observed, are 
simple, and adapted only for use. To gratify 
his passionate love of ornament, the Indian 
seeks chiefly to load his person with certain 
glittering appendages. Before the arrival of 
Europeans, shells and feathers took the lead ; 
but, since that period, these commodities have 
been nearly supplanted by beads, rings, brace- 
lets, and similar toys, which are inserted pro- 
fusely into various parts of his apparel, parti- 
cularly the little apron in front. The chiefs 
usually wear a breastplate ornamented with 
them ; and among all classes it is an object of 
the greatest ambition to have the largest pos- 
sible number suspended from the ear. That 
organ, therefore, is not bored, but slit to such 
an extent that a stick of wax may be passed 
through the aperture, which is then loaded with 
all the baubles that can be mustered ; and if 
the weight of these gradually draw down the 
yielding flap till it rest on the shoulder, and the 



184 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



ornaments themselves cover the breast, the In- 
dian has reached his utmost height of finery. 
This, however, is a precarious splendour ; the 
ear becomes more and more unfit to support 
the burden, when at length some accident, the 
branch of a tree, or even a twitch by a wag- 
gish comrade, lays at his feet all his decora 
tions, with the portion of flesh to which they 
were attached. Weld saw very few who had 
preserved this organ entire through life. The 
adjustment of the hair, again, is an object of 
especial study. As already observed, the greater 
part is generally eradicated, leaving only a tuft, 
varying in shape and place, according to taste 
and national custom, but usually encircling the 
crown. This lock is stuck full of feathers, 
wings of birds, shells, and every kind of fan- 
tastic ornament. The women wear theirs long 
and flowing, and contrive to collect a consider- 
able number of ornaments for it, as well as. for 
their ears and dress. 

But it is upon his skin that the American 
warrior chiefly lavishes his powers of embel- 
lishment. His taste in doing so is very different 
from ours. " While the European/' says Creux- 
ius, " studies to keep his skin clean, and free 
from every extraneous substance, the Indian's 
aim is, that his, by the accumulation of oil, 
grease, and paint, may shine like that of a 
roasted pig." Soot scraped from the bottoms 
of kettles, the juices of herbs, having a green, 
yellow, and, above all, a vermilion tint, ren- 
dered adhesive by combination with oil and 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



185 



grease, are lavishly employed to adorn his per- 
son, or, according to our idea, to render it 
hideous. Black and red, alternating with each 
other in varied stripes, are the favourite tints. 
Some blacken the face, leaving in the middle a 
red circle, including the upper lip and tip of the 
nose 5 others have a red spot on each ear, or 
one eye black and the other of a red colour. In 
war the black tint is profusely laid on, the 
others being only employed to heighten its 
effect, and give to the countenance a terrific ex- 
pression. M. de Tracy, when governor of Ca- 
nada, was told by his Indian allies, that, with 
his good-humoured face, he would never in- 
spire the enemy with any degree of awe. They 
besought him to place himself under their 
brush, when they would soon make him such 
that his very aspect would strike terror. The 
breast, arms, and legs are the seat of more per- 
manent impressions, analogous to the tattooing 
of the South Sea Islanders. The colours are 
either elaborately rubbed in, or fixed by slight 
incisions with needles and sharp-pointed bones. 
His guardian spirit, and the animal that forms 
the symbol of his tribe, are the first objects de- 
lineated. After this, every memorable exploit, 
and particularly the enemies whom he has 
slain and scalped, are diligently graven on some 
part of his figure ; so that the body of an aged 
warrior contains the history of his life. 



16* 



186 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



INDIAN HUNTING. 

It is a mistake to suppose that hunting is pur- 
sued by the Indian merely as a means of sub- 
sistence. It is also his favourite sport ; and no 
English gentleman who spends his thousands of 
pounds per annum on his horses and hounds, 
follows the sports of the field with a keener zest, 
than the wild Indian who has never beheld the 
face of a white man. The accounts of Catlin, 
who spent much time among the wildest tribes, 
show, that amusement, in its most liberal sense, 
is pursued by the Indians in this way. Hunting 
is not drudgery to them. 

The means of procuring subsistence must 
always form an important branch of national 
economy. Writers take a superficial view of 
savage life, and, seeing how scanty the articles 
of food are, while the demand is necessarily 
urgent, have assumed that the efforts to attain 
them must absorb his whole mind, and scarcely 
leave room for any other thought. But, on the 
contrary, these are to him very subordinate ob- 
jects. To perform a round of daily labour, 
even though ensuring the most ample provision 
for his wants, would be equally contrary to his 
inclination and supposed dignity. He will not 
deign to follow any pursuit which does not, at 
the same time, include enterprise, adventure, 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 187 



and excitement. Hunting, which the higher 
classes in the civilized parts of the world pur- 
sue for mere recreation, is almost the only oc- 
cupation considered of sufficient importance to 
engage his attention. It is peculiarly endeared 
by its resemblance to war, being carried on 
with the same weapons, and nearly in the same 
manner. In his native state, the arrow was the 
favourite and almost exclusive instrument for 
assailing distant objects ; but now the gun has 
nearly superseded it. The great hunts are ren- 
dered more animating, as well as more effectual, 
from being carried on in large parties, and even 
by whole tribes. The men are prepared for 
these by fasting, dreaming, and other supersti- 
tious observances, similar to those which we 
shall find employed in anticipation of war. In 
such expeditions, too, contrivance and skill, as 
well as boldness and enterprise, are largely em- 
ployed. Sometimes a circle is formed, when all 
the animals surrounded by it are pressed closer 
and closer, till they are collected in the centre, 
and fall under the accumulated weight of wea- 
pons. On other occasions they are driven to 
the margin of a lake or river, in which, if they 
attempt to seek refuge, canoes are ready to in- 
tercept them. Elsewhere a space is enclosed 
by stakes, only a narrow opening being left, 
which, by clamour and shouts, the game are 
compelled to enter, and thereby secured. In 
autumn and spring, when the ice is newly 
formed and slight, they are pushed upon it, and 
their legs breaking through, they are easily 



188 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



caught. In winter, when the snow begins t& 
fall, traps are set, in which planks are so ar- 
ranged, that the animal, in snatching at the 
bait, is crushed to death. Originally the deer, 
both for food and clothing, was the most valu- 
able object of chase ; but, since the trade with 
Europeans has given such a prominent impor- 
tance to furs, the beaver has in some degree 
supplanted it. In attacking this animal, great 
care is taken to prevent his escape into the wa- 
ter, on which his habitation always borders; 
and with this view various kinds of nets and 
springes are employed. On some occasions the 
Indians place themselves upon the dike which 
encloses his amphibious village. They then 
make an opening in it, when the inmates, 
alarmed by seeing the water flowing out, hasten 
to this barrier, where they encounter their ene- 
mies, armed with all the instruments of de- 
struction. At other times, when ice covers the 
surface of the pond, a hole is made, at which 
the animal comes to respire ; he is then drawn 
out and secured. The bear is a formidable 
enemy, which must be assailed by the com- 
bined force of the hunters, who are ranged in 
two rows, armed with bows or muskets. One 
of them advances and wounds him, and, on 
being furiously pursued, he retreats between 
the files, followed in the same line by the ani- 
mal, which is then overwhelmed by their united 
onset. In killing these quadrupeds, the natives 
seem to feel a sort of kindness and sympathy 
for their victim. On vanquishing a beaver or 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 189 



a bear, they celebrate its praises in a song, 
recounting those good qualities which it will 
never more be able to display, yet consoling 
themselves with the useful purposes to which 
its flesh and its skin will be applied. 

Of the animals usually tamed and rendered 
subservient to useful purposes, the Indians have 
only the dog, that faithful friend of man. 
Though his services in hunting are valuable, 
he is treated with but little tenderness, and is 
left to roam about the dwelling, very sparingly 
supplied with food and shelter. A missionary, 
who resided in a Huron village, represents his 
life as having been rendered miserable by these 
animals. At night they laid themselves on his 
person for the benefit of the warmth; and, 
whenever his scanty meal was set down, their 
snouts were always first in the dish. Dog's 
flesh is eaten, and has even a peculiar sanctity 
attached to it. On all solemn festivals it is the 
principal meat, the use of which, on such occa- 
sions, seems to import some high and myste- 
rious meaning. 

But, besides the cheering avocations of the 
chase, other means must be used to ensure the 
comfort and subsistence of the Indian's family ; 
all of which, however, are most ungenerously 
devolved upon the weaker sex. Women, ac- 
cording to Creuxius, serve them as domestics, 
as tailors, as peasants, and as oxen ; and Long 
does not conceive that any other purposes of 
their existence are recognized, except those of 
bearing children and performing hard woik 



190 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



They till the ground, carry wood and water, 
build huts, make canoes, and fish; in which 
latter processes, however, and in reaping the 
harvest, their lords deign to give occasional aid. 
So habituated are they to such occupations, that 
when one of them saw a party of English sol- 
diers collecting wood, she exclaimed that it was 
a shame to see men doing women's work, and 
began herself to carry a load. 

Through the services of this enslaved portion 
of the tribe, those savages are enabled to com- 
bine in a certain degree the agricultural with 
the hunting state, without any mixture of the 
pastoral, usually considered as intermediate. 
Cultivation, however, is limited to small spots 
in the immediate vicinity of the villages, and 
these being usually at the distance of sixteen 
or seventeen miles from each other, it scarcely 
makes any impression on the immense expanse 
of forest. The women, in the beginning oi 
summer, after having burned the stubble of the 
preceding crop, rudely stir the ground with a 
long, crooked piece of wood ; they then throw 
in the grain, which is chiefly the coarse but pro- 
ductive species of maize peculiar to the Conti- 
nent. The nations in the south have a consi- 
derable variety of fruits ; whereas those of Ca- 
nada appear to have raised only tumsols, wa- 
termelons, and pompions. Tobacco used to be 
grown largely ; but that produced by the Eu- 
ropean settlers is now universally preferred, 
and has become a regular object of trade. The 
grain, after harvest (which is celebrated by a 



it 7 

INDIAN ANECDOTES. 191 

| festival), is lodged in large subterraneous stores 
lined with bark, where it keeps extremely well. 

i Previous to being placed in these, it is some- 
times thrashed ; on other occasions merely the 
ears are cut off, and thrown in. When first dis- 
covered by settlers from Europe, the degrees of 

! culture were found to vary in different tribes. 
The Algonquins, who were the ruling people 

| previous to the arrival of the French, wholly 
despised it, and branded as plebeian their neigh- 

! hours, by whom it was practised. In general, 

I the northern clans, and those near the mouth of 
the St. Lawrence, depended almost solely on 
hunting and fishing; and when these failed 
they were reduced to dreadful extremities, be- 
ing often obliged to depend on the miserable 
resource of that species of lichen called tripe 
de roche. 

The maize, when thrashed, is occasionally 
toasted on the coals, and sometimes made into 
a coarse kind of unleavened cake. But the 
most favourite preparation is that called saga- 
mity, a species of pap formed after it has been 
roasted, bruised, and separated from the husk. 
It is insipid by itself ; yet when thrown into the 
pot, along with the produce of the chase, it en- 
riches the soup or stew, one of the principal 
dishes at their feasts. They never eat victuals 
raw, but rather overboiled ; nor have they yet 
been brought to endure French ragouts, salt, 
pepper, or, indeed, any species of condiment. 
A chief, admitted to the governor's table, see- 
ing the general use of mustard, was led by cu- 



192 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 

nosity to take a spoonful and put it into his 
mouth. On feeling its violent effects, he made 
incredible efforts to conceal them, and escape 
the ridicule of the company ; but severe sneez- 
ings, and the tears starting from his eyes, soon 
betrayed him, and raised a general laugh. He 
was then shown the manner in which it should 
be used ; but nothing could ever induce him to 
allow the "boiling yellow," as he termed it, to 
enter his lips. 

The Indians are capable of extraordinary 
abstinence from food, in which they can per- 
severe for successive days without complaint or 
apparent suffering. They even take a pride in 
long fasts, by which they usually prepare them- 
selves for any great undertaking. Yet, when 
once set down to a feast, their gluttony is de- 
scribed as enormous, and the capacity of their 
stomachs almost incredible. They will go from 
feast to feast, doing honour to each in succession. 
The chief giving the entertainment does not 
partake, but with his own hands distributes 
portions among the guests. On solemn occa- 
sions, it is a rule that everything shall be eaten ; 
nor does this obligation seem to be felt as either 
burdensome or unpleasant. In their native 
state, they were not acquainted with any species 
of intoxicating liquors; their love of ardent 
spirits, attended with so many ruinous effects, 
having been entirely consequent on their inter- 
course with Europeans. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



193 



HABITATIONS OF THE INDIANS. 

There is great diversity among the various 
tribes of North American Indians in respect to 
manners and customs, dress, and modes of 
living. The inhabitants of the sultry regions 
of Florida and Texas, of course pay less atten- 
tion to the texture of their garments, and the 
comfort of their dwellings, than those who re- 
side in the more northern regions; and other 
diversities of habit are produced by differences 
of climate and situation. Still there is a cer- 
tain degree of simplicity inherent in savage life, 
which pervades all the tribes : — it is the sim- 
plicity which is the necessary consequence of 
poverty and ignorance. 

The habitations of the Indians receive much 
less of their attention than the attire, or, at 
least, embellishment of their persons. Our 
countrymen, by common consent, give to them 
no better appellation than cabins. The bark 
of trees is their chief material both for houses 
and boats: they peel it off with considerable 
skill, sometimes stripping a whole tree in one 
piece. This coating, spread not unskilfully 
over a framework of poles, and fastened to 
them by strips of tough rind, forms their dwel- 
lings. The shape, according to the owner's 
fancy, resembles a tub, a cone, or a cart-shed, 
the mixture of which gives to the village a 
confused and chaotic appearance. Light and 
17 



194 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



heat are admitted only by an aperture at the 
top, through which also the smoke escapes, 
after filling all the upper part of the mansion. 
Little inconvenience is felt from this by the 
natives, who, within doors, never think of any 
position except sitting or lying; but to Euro- 
peans, who must occasionally stand or walk, the 
abode is thereby rendered almost intolerable ; 
and matters become much worse when rain or 
snow makes it necessary to close the roof. 
These structures are sometimes upward of a 
hundred feet long ; but they are then the resi- 
dence of two or three separate families. Four 
of them occasionally compose a quadrangle, 
each open on the inside, and having a common 
fire in the centre. Forn??rly the Iroquois had 
houses somewhat superior, adorned even with 
some rude carving; but these were burned 
down by the French in successive expeditions, 
and were never after rebuilt in the same style. 
The Canadians in this respect seem to be 
surpassed by the Choctaws, Chickasaws, and, 
other tribes in the south, and even by the 
Saukies in the west, whose mansions Carver 
describes as constructed of well-hewn planks, 
neatly jointed, and each capable of containing 
several families. 

In their expeditions, whether for war or 
hunting, which often lead them through desolate 
forests, several hundred miles from home, the 
Indians have the art of rearing, with great ex- 
pedition, temporary abodes. On arriving at 
their evening station, a few poles, meeting at 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



195 



the top in the form of a cone, are in half an 
hour covered with bark ; and having spread a 
few pine-branches within by way of mattress, 
they sleep as soundly as on beds of down. 
Like the Esquimaux, they also understand how 
to convert snow into a material for building ; 
and find it in the depth of winter the warmest 
and most comfortable. A few twigs platted 
together secure the roof. Our own countrymen, 
in their several campaigns, have, in cases of 
necessity, used with advantage this species of 
bivouac. 

The furniture in these native huts is exceed- 
ingly simple. The chief articles are two or 
three pots or kettles for boiling their food, with 
a few wooden plates and spoons. The former, 
in the absence of metal, with which the in- 
habitants were unacquainted, were made of 
coarse earthenware that resisted the fire ; and 
sometimes of a species of soft stone, which 
could be excavated with their rude hatchets. 
Nay, in some cases, their kitchen utensils were 
of wood, and the water made to boil by throw- 
ing in heated stones. Since their acquaintance 
with Europeans, the superiority of iron vessels 
has been found so decided, that they are now 
universally preferred. The great kettle or 
caldron, employed only on high festivals asso- 
ciated with religion, hunting, or war, attracts 
even a kind of veneration; and potent chiefs 
have assumed its name as their title of honour. 



196 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS 

The intellectual character of the American 
savage presents some very striking peculiarities. 
Considering his unfavourable condition, he of 
all other human beings might seem doomed to 
make the nearest approach to the brute ; while, 
in point of fact, without any aid from letters or 
study, many of the higher faculties of his mind 
are developed in a very remarkable degree. He 
displays a decided superiority over the unin- 
structed labourer in a civilized community, 
whose mental energies are benumbed amid the 
daily round of mechanical occupation. The 
former spends a great part of his life in arduous 
enterprises, where much contrivance is requisite, 
and whence he must often extricate himself by 
presence of mind and ingenuity. His senses, 
particularly those of seeing and smelling, have 
acquired by practice an almost preternatural 
acuteness. He can trace an animal or a foe by 
indications which to a European eye would be 
wholly imperceptible ; and in his wanderings 
he gathers a minute acquaintance with the 
geography of the countries which he traverses. 
He can even draw a rude outline of them by 
applying a mixture of charcoal and grease to 
prepared skins, and on seeing a regular map he 
soon understands its construction, and readily 
finds out places. His facility in discovering the 
most direct way to spots situated at the distance 
of hundreds of miles, and known perhaps only by 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 197 



the report of his countrymen, is truly astonishing. 
It has been ascribed by some to a mysterious 
and supernatural instinct, but it appears to be 
achieved by merely observing the different 
aspect of the trees or shrubs when exposed to 
the north or the south, as also the position of 
the sun, which he can point out, although hidden 
by clouds. Even where there is a beaten track, 
if at all circuitous, he strikes directly through 
the woods, and reaches his destination by the 
straightest possible line. 

Other faculties of a higher order are developed 
by the scenes amid which the life of savages is 
spent. They are divided into a number of little 
communities, between which are actively carried 
on all the relations of war, negotiation, treaty, 
and alliance. As mighty revolutions, observes 
an eloquent writer, take place in these kingdoms 
of wood and cities of bark, as in the most 
powerful civilized states. To increase the in- 
fluence and extend the possessions of their own 
tribe, to humble and, if possible, to destroy those 
hostile to them, are the constant aims of every 
member of those little commonwealths. For 
these ends, not only deeds of daring valour are 
achieved, but schemes are deeply laid, and pur- 
sued with the most accurate calculation. There 
is scarcely a refinement in European diplomacy 
to which they are strangers. The French once 
made an attempt to crush the confederacy of 
the Five Nations by attacking each in suc- 
cession ; but as they were on their march against 
the first tribe, they were met by the deputies of 
17* 



198 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



the others, who offered their mediation, intima- 
ting that, if it were rejected, they would make 
common cause with the one threatened. That 
association also showed that they completely 
understood how to employ the hostility which 
prevailed between their enemy and the English 
for promoting their own aggrandizement. Em- 
bassies, announced by the calumet of peace, are 
constantly passing from one tribe to another. 

The same political circumstances develop in 
an extraordinary degree the powers of oratory; 
for nothing of any importance is transacted 
without a speech. On every emergency a 
council of the tribe is called, when the aged and 
wise hold long deliberations for the public weal. 
The best speakers are despatched to conduct 
their negotiations, the object of which is un- 
folded in studied harangues. The functions of 
orator, among the Five Nations, had even be- 
come a separate profession, held in equal or 
higher honour than that of the warrior; and 
each clan appointed the most eloquent of their 
number to speak for them in the public council. 
Nay, there was a general orator for the whole 
confederacy, who could say to the French 
governor, " Ononthio, lend thine ear ; I am the 
mouth of all the country; you hear all the 
Iroquois in hearing my word." Decanesora, 
their speaker at a later period, was greatly ad- 
mired by the English, and his bust was thought 
to resemble that of Cicero. In their diplomatic 
discourses, each proposition is prefaced by the 
delivery of a belt of wampum, of which what 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



199 



follows is understood to be the explanation, and 
which is to be preserved as a record of the 
conference. The orator does not express his 
proposals in words only, but gives to every 
sentence its appropriate action. If he threatens 
war, he wildly brandishes the tomahawk; if 
he solicits alliance, he twines his arms closely 
with those of the chief whom he addresses; 
and if he invites friendly intercourse, he assumes 
all the attitudes of one who is forming a road 
in the Indian manner, by cutting down the trees, 
clearing them away, and carefully removing 
the leaves and branches. To a French writer, 
who witnessed the delivery of a solemn em- 
bassy, it suggested the idea of a company of 
actors performing on a stage. So expressive 
are their gestures, that negotiations have been 
conducted and alliances concluded between 
petty states and communities who understood 
nothing of one another's language. 

The composition of the Indian orators is 
studied and elaborate. The language of the [ 
Iroquois is even held to be susceptible of an 
Attic elegance, which few can attain so fully as 
to escape all criticism. It is figurative in the 
highest degree, every notion being expressed 
by images addressed to the senses. Thus, to 
throw up the hatchet or to put on the great 
caldron is to begin a war ; to throw the hatchet 
to the sky is to wage open and terrible war ; to 
take off the caldron or to bury the hatchet is to 
make peace ; to plant the tree of peace on the 
highest mountain of the earth is to make a 



200 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



general pacification. To throw a prisoner into 
the caldron is to devote him to torture and 
death ; to take him out, is to pardon and receive 
him as a member of the community. Ambas- 
sadors coming to propose a full and general 
treaty say, " We rend the clouds asunder, and 
drive away all darkness from the heavens, that 
the sun of peace may shine with brightness 
over us all." On another occasion, referring 
to their own violent conduct, they said, « We 
are glad that Assarigoa will bury in the pit 
what is past ; let the earth be trodden hard over 
it, or, rather, let a strong stream run under the 
pit to wash away the evil." They afterward 
added, "We now plant a tree, whose top will 
reach the sun, and its branches spread far abroad, 
and we shall shelter ourselves under it, and live 
in peace." To send the collar under ground is 
to carry on a secret negotiation ; but when ex- 
pressing a desire that there might be no du- 
plicity or concealment between them and the 
French, they said that " They wished to fix the 
sun in the top of the heaven, immediately 
above that pole, that it might beat directly 
down and leave nothing in obscurity." In 
pledging themselves to a firm and steady peace-, 
they declared that they would not only throw 
down the great war-caldron, and cause all the 
water to flow out, but would break it in pieces. 
This disposition to represent every thing by a 
sensible object extends to matters the most im- 
portant. One powerful people assumed the 
appellation of Foxes, while another gloried in 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



201 



that of Cats. Even when the entire nation 
bore a different appellation, separate fraternities 
distinguished themselves as the tribe of the 
Bear, the Tortoise, and the Wolf. They did 
not disdain a reference even to inanimate things. 
The Black Caldron was at one time the chief 
warrior of the Five Nations ; and Red Shoes 
was a person of distinction well known to Long 
the traveller. When the chiefs concluded treaties 
with Europeans, their signature consisted in a 
picture, often tolerably well executed, of the 
beast or object after which they chose to be 
named. 

The absence among these tribes of any writ- 
ten or even pictorial mode of recording events, 
was supplied by the memories of their old men, 
which were so retentive, that a certain writer 
(calls them living books. Their only remem- 
brancer consisted in the wampum belts; of 
which one was appropriated to each division of 
a speech or treaty, and had seemingly a power- 
ful effect in calling it to recollection. On the 
close of the transaction, these were deposited as 
public documents, to be drawn forth on great 
occasions, when the orators, and even the old 
women, could repeat verbatim the passage to 
which each referred. Europeans were thus en- 
abled to collect information concerning the 
revolutions of different tribes, for several ages 
preceding their own arrival. 



202 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



r 

SINGULAR EXECUTION OF AN INDIAN. 

In March, 1S23, a Choctaw savage, calling 
himself Doctor Sibley, belonging to a wander- 
ing tribe of his nation, in the Arkansas Terri- 
tory, — while in a state of intoxication, stabbed 
to the heart another Indian ; who instantly ex- 
pired. This act called for revenge, founded on 
the lex taliones — that invariable custom of the 
aborigines. A brother of the deceased called 
upon Sibley, and told him, that he was come to 
take his life, in atonement for the death of his 
brother. With the composure of a philosopher, 
and the courage of a Roman, Sibley — readily, 
and without a murmur — yielded assent; only 
desiring the execution might be postponed until 
the following morning. This was granted ; — 
the execution was postponed — and Sibley left 
at large, under no restraint whatever ! 

When the morning came, Sibley went out 
with the rest of the party, and, with perfect 
apathy, aided in digging a grave for the mur- 
dered Indian. The work being finished, he 
calmly observed to the by-standers, that he 
thought it large enough to contain two bodies ; — 
signifying, at the same time, a wish to be 
buried in the same grave. This, too, was 
granted : and the murderer deliberately took a 
standing position over the grave, with out- 
stretched arms ; and, giving a signal to fire, the 
brother drove a rifle ball through his heart — 
and he dropt into the hole he had assisted to 
make ! 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



203 



INDIAN VERACITY. 

" He once told a lie" — was the emphatical 
expression of an Indian to me, in 1794, when I 
was attending to the surveying of a large body 
of lands in, what was then called, 6 The French- 
Creek Country/ and West of the Alleghany 
River: and, as some of my people were killed 
by the Western Indians, I found it necessary, 
while the surveying was going on, to visit the 
Indian Towns on the Alleghany River frequent- 
ly : — they were inhabited by the Senecas. 
General Wayne was then on his way, with his 
army, to the Indian settlements on the Miami 
River. 

One day, when I was at the Cornplanter's 
town, the < News- Spout f as it is called, was 
heard. All the Indians in the village immedi- 
ately retired to their houses (and even their dogs 
went with them ;) when an old man went out 
to meet the person who brought the news, and 
to take him to the Long, or Council-House, 
where a fire was made and refreshments were 
carried to him, and time given for him to dress 
and paint himself, so as to appear decent. 

When sufficient time had elapsed for the 
preparatives to be performed, the chiefs went 
first to the house ; and, as the young men were 
following, I asked an Indian — who spoke 
English, and to whom (as he professed to be a 
priest, physician, and conjurer) I gave the name 
of Doctor — whether there was any impropriety 



204 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



in my going to hear the news. He said, " No" — 
and that, as I was received as a friend and 
visiter, all their houses were open to me : and 
if I did not go without any ceremony, it would 
appear as if / doubted their words and hospi- 
tality ; which was considered as the greatest 
affront that could be put on an Indian. For 
that, if there was any secret business going on, 
they would inform me of it, in a friendly way; 
and then I might retire. 

I accordingly went into the house with him ; 
when the Chiefs immediately rose, and gave me 
a seat among them. 

All the Indians in the house were smoking 
their pipes when I came in ; and the stranger 
was sitting opposite the Chiefs, in a seat, or 
rather a platform, by himself. The time ap- 
peared to me very long, as I was anxious to 
hear the news; being much interested in the 
event, as the Indians had been deliberating, 
whether or not they would permit me to con- 
tinue surveying, or send me out of the country : 
and, what surprised me, was, that no one — con- 
trary to their usual custom — asked him for the 
news ; and I was at a loss to account for their 
conduct. Eventually, the Indian himself — after 
prefacing the business, with telling them, he 
had no doubt, — as they knew he had been to 
the West — they would be gratified in hearing 
his news. But no one appeared to signify his 
assent or negative. The Indian then gave an 
account of an affair between a convoy of 
Americans — who were carrying reinforcements 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



205 



and provisions to one of our frontier posts- — 
and the Indians ; and they had killed the com- 
manding officer and a number of our men: 
and, after he had related all he had to say, no 
one asked for any particulars of the action, or 
for any corroborating circumstance; as I had 
formerly observed, they were particularly polite 
to strangers and visiters, and were very cautious 
to say or do any thing to hurt their feelings . 
and, soon after, the chiefs and other Indians 
began to leave the house. 

I left the house with the Doctor; and, as 
soon as we had passed the door, I expressed my 
surprise to him, at the manner they treated the 
man who brought the news, as it was so 
different from any treatment I had before seen, 
when visited by strangers; and that I would 
thank him to inform me of the cause of it : — 
when he, without any hesitation, and with 
considerable emphasis, answered, "He once 
told a lie" — and continued : " What that man 
said, may be so true; may be so not. We 
always listen to what a newsman has to say, — 
even when we know him to be a liar. But, 
whether we believe him or not, it is not our 
custom to let him know ; or to say any thing 
on the subject : for, if we had asked him any 
questions about the fight, it would have been 
a great gratification to him ; as he would have 
concluded some of the company did believe 
him : which is a thing we do not indulge any 
person in, who has been guilty of telling a lie." 
He concluded, by saying, " He all one as dead. 39 
18 



206 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



PETER OTSAQUETTE, THE ONEIDAN 

Peter Otsaquette was the son of a man of 
consideration among the Oneida Indians of 
New York. At the close of the Revolutionary 
war, .he was noticed by the Marquis de La 
Fayette, who, to a noble zeal for liberty, united 
the most philanthropic feelings. Viewing, there- 
fore, this young savage with peculiar interest, 
and anticipating the happy results to be derived 
from his moral regeneration, he took him, though 
scarcely twelve years old, to France. Peter ar- 
rived at that period when Louis XVI. and Maria 
Antoinette were in the zenith of their glory. 
There he was taught the accomplishments of a 
gentleman ; — music, drawing, and fencing, were 
made familiar to him, and he danced with a 
grace that a Vestris could not but admire. At 
about eighteen, his separation from a country 
in which he had spent his time so agreeably 
and so profitably, became necessary. Laden 
with favours from the Marquis, and the min- 
iatures of those friends he had left behind. 
Peter departed for America — inflated, perhaps, 
with the idea, that the deep ignorance of his 
nation, with that of the Indians of the whole 
continent, might be dispelled by his efforts, and 
he become the proud instrument of the civili 
zation of thousands. 

Prosecuting his route to the land of his pa- 
rents, he came to the city of Albany ; not the 
uncivilized savage, not with any of those marks 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 207 

which bespoke a birth in tne forest, or years 
spent in toiling the wilds of a desert, but pos- 
sessing a fine commanding figure, an expressive 
countenance, an intelligent eye, with a face 
scarcely indicative of the race from which he 
was descended. He presented, at this period, 
an interesting spectacle : a child of the wilder- 
ness was beheld about to proceed to the home 
of his forefathers, having received the brilliant 
advantages of a cultivated mind, and on his way 
to impart to the nation that owned him, the 
benefits which civilization had given him. It 
was an opportunity for the philosopher to con- 
template, and to reflect on the future good this 
young Indian might be the means of producing. 

Shortly after his arrival in Albany — where 
he visited the first families — he took advantage 
of Governor Clinton's journey to Fort Stanwix 
(where a treaty was to be held with the Indians,) 
to return to his tribe. On the route, Otsaquette 
amused the company (among whom were the 
French Minister, Count De Moustiers, and 
several gentlemen of respectability) by his 
powers on various instruments of music. At 
Fort Stanwix, he found himself again with the 
companions of his early days, who saw and re- 
cognised him. His friends and relations had 
not forgotten him, and he was welcomed to his 
home and to his blanket. 

But that which occurred soon after his re- 
ception, led him to a too fearful anticipation of 
an unsuccessful project ; for the Oneidas, as if 
they could not acknowledge Otsaquette, attired 



208 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



in the dress with which he appeared before 
them, — a mark which did not disclose his 
nation, — and, thinking that he had assumed it, 
as if ashamed of his own native costume, the 
garb of his ancestors, they tore it from him with 
a savage avidity, and a fiend-like ferociousness, 
daubed on the paint to which he had been so 
long unused, and clothed him with the uncouth 
habiliments held sacred by his tribe. Their 
fiery ferocity, in the performance of the act, 
showed but too well the bold stand they were 
about to take against the innovations they sup- 
posed Otsaquette was to be the agent for 
affecting against their immemorial manners and 
customs, and which, from the venerable anti- 
quity of their structure, it would be nothing 
short of sacrilege to destroy. 

Thus the reformed savage was taken back 
again to his native barbarity, and — as if to cap 
the climax of degradation to a mind just sus- 
ceptible of its own powers — was married to a 
squaw ! 

From that day, Otsaquette was no longer the 
accomplished Indian, from whom every wish 
of philanthropy was expected to be realized. 
He was no longer the instrument by whose 
power the emancipation of his countrymen 
from the thraldom of ignorance and superstition, 
was to be effected. From that day, he was 
again an inmate with the forest; was once 
more buried in his original obscurity, and his 
nation only viewed him as an equal Even a 
liberal grant from the State, failed of securing 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 209 

to him that superior consideration among them 
which his civilization had procured for him with 
the rest of mankind. The commanding pre- 
eminence acquired from instruction, from which 
it was expected ambition would have sprung 
up, and acted as a double stimulant, from either 
the natural inferiority of the savage mind, or 
the predetermination of his countrymen — be- 
came of no effect, and, in a little time, was 
wholly annihilated. Otsaquette was lost ! His 
moral perdition began from the hour he left 
Fort Stanwix. Three short months had hardly 
transpired, when Intemperance had marked 
him as her own, and soon hurried him to the 
grave. And, as if the very transition had 
deadened all the finer feelings of his nature, the 
picture given him by the Marquis — the very 
portrait of his affectionate friend and benefactor 
himself — he parted with ! 

Extraordinary and unnatural as the conduct 
of this educated savage may appear, the anec- 
dote is not of a kind altogether unique ; which 
proves, that little or nothing is to be expected 
from conferring a literary education upon those 
children of the forest : — An Indian, named 
George White-Eyes, was taken, while a boy, to 
the college at Princeton, where he received a 
classical education. On returning to his nation, 
he made some little stay in Philadelphia. He 
was amiable in his manners, and of modest de- 
meanour, without exhibiting any trait of the 
savage whatever; but, no sooner had he re- 
joined his friends and former companions, in 
18* 



210 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



the land of his nativity, than he dropped the 
garb and manners of civilization, and resumed 
those of the savage, and, drinking deep of 
their intoxicating cup, soon put a period to his 
existence. 

Many other instances might be adduced, to 
show how ineffectual have been the attempts 
to plant civilization on savage habits, by means 
of literary education — " Can the leopard change 
his spots ?" 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



21 1 



THE CATASTROPHE. 

The son of a Kickapoo Chief, being engaged 
to a Ouiattanon girl, came in quest of her to 
fort Knox, at Vincennes — though an Indian 
war was then waging against the United States ; 
and, in this, the Kickapoos were among the 
most formidable. We happened to be there at 
this time. It was summer, and the weather very 
warm. The young Kickapoo was admitted into 
the fort, and, among other presents, threw down 
several joints of venison ; observing to the com- 
manding officer, that, if he could not eat them 
himself, (for they were tainted,) they might 
answer for his hogs and dogs— muttering at 
the same time, and making the sign of a halter 
round his neck, that perhaps they might hang 
him for appearing among them; alluding, no 
doubt, to the then Indian war. 

On the evening of the same day the young 
Kickapoo got into a drunken frolic, with other 
savages, among whom was the before men- 
tioned Indian. The latter said to the Kickapoo, 
" May be I shall kill you : " and, without further 
preface, he plunged a knife into him — which 
instantly proved fatal. At this moment the 
Ouiattanons in company took the alarm — fear- 
ful of the consequences that might befal their 
tribe, from the death of the son of a powerful 
chieftain. It was therefore determined to pro- 
pitiate the Kickapoo's father, by sending a 
deputation to him with the present of a ten 



212 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



gallon keg of whisky as a peace offering. This 
was furnished for the purpose, on request, by 
the commanding officer of the fort. They had 
not gone far when the precious liquor proved 
too great a temptation : the keg was broached, 
and soon emptied. What then was to be done ? 

Next morning, however, they appeared again 
at the fort — deplored the 6 accident? (as they 
called it,) and begged for another keg of liquor. 
This too was granted — and off they went again. 
But this keg met with the fate of the former : 
its contents proved an irresistible temptation. 
As no more whisky could now be obtained, the 
mission fell through. 

Upon this, the Indians appeared before the 
fort, with the murderer in custody, mider the 
window of the writer, and demanded justice to 
be done on the prisoner. He told them it was 
an affair for themselves to settle, as it was con- 
fined to themselves alone. They now marched 
in Indian file, carrying off the murderer, who, 
every now and then, looked fearfully behind 
him — for the brother of the deceased's sweet- 
heart had taken post next in his rear. They had 
not proceeded far, when this brother plunged a 
knife into the prisoner's back, which broke, and 
a part was left buried in the wound. The 
whole party now returned before the fort — the 
wounded man singing his death-song. He was 
borne off by his friends into a thicket, in the 
prairie, where all their efforts to extract the 
broken blade proved ineffectual ; and the next 
day or two he died. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



213 



The Spider, a brother of the murderer, and 
then at Kaskaskia, hearing of the predicament 
which had befallen the latter, hastened to Vin- 
cennes — but death had closed the scene. He 
came in time, however, to attend the funeral. 
When the body was about to be consigned to 
the earth, he opened the blanket which en- 
veloped the corpse, and taking off a silver orna- 
ment which encompassed his head, he bound it 
around that of the defunct, saying, "There, 
brother ! this will bring you respect in the land 
of Spirits." 



214 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



BUFFALO HUNTING. 

The buffalo, more properly called the bison, 
is the great object of Indian hunting in the 
west. These animals abound in the prairies ; and 
they are often seen coursing over the plains in 
itamense herds. Thousands of them appear 
under the direction of one of their number, 
who acts as leader. This propensity to follow 
a leader affords a ready means to the Indians 
of destroying them. The manner in which 
this is accomplished is graphically described in 
the following extract from the account of a 
late writer. It affords a wild picture of the 
scenes which present themselves to the notice 
of the traveller as he passes through the great 
prairies of the west. 

We passed a precipice of about one hundred 
and twenty feet high, under which lay scattered 
the fragments of at least one hundred carcases 
of buffaloes, although the water, which had 
washed away the lower part of the hill, must 
have carried off many of the dead. These 
buffaloes had been chased down the precipice, 
in a way very common on the Missouri, and 
by which vast herds are destroyed in a moment. 
The mode of hunting is, to select one of the j 
most active and fleet young men, who is dis- 
guised, by a buffalo skin around his body, the 
skin of the head, with the ears and the horns, 
fastened on his own head, in such a way as to 
deceive the buffalo. Thus dressed, he fixes 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 215 



himself at a convenient distance, between a 
herd of buffaloes and any of the river precipices, 
which sometimes extend for some miles. His 
companions, in the meantime, get into the rear, 
and on the side of the herd, and, at a given 
signal, show themselves, and advance towards 
(he buffalo : they instantly take the alarm; and, 
finding the hunters beside them, they run to- 
wards the disguised Indian or decoy, who leads 
them on at full speed toward the river, when, 
suddenly securing himself in some crevice of 
the cliff which he had previously fixed on, the 
herd is left on the brink of the precipice. It is 
then in vain for the foremost to retreat, or even 
to stop — they are pressed on by the hindmost 
rank, who, seeing no danger, but from the 
hunters, goad on those before them, till the 
whole are precipitated, and the shore is strewed 
with their dead bodies. Sometimes, in this 
perilous seduction, the Indian is himself either 
trodden under foot, by the rapid movements of 
the buffaloes or missing his footing in the cliff, 
is urged down the precipice along with the fall- 
ing herd. 

The Indians now select as much meat as they 
choose, and the rest is abandoned to the wolves, 
and creates a most dreadful stench. The wolves 
who had been feasting on these carcases were 
very fat, and so gentle, that one of them was 
killed with an espontoon. 



216 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



RELIGION OF THE INDIANS. 

The earliest visiters of the New World, 
on seeing among the Indians neither priests, 
temples, idols, nor sacrifices, represented them 
as a people wholly destitute of religious opinions. 
Closer inquiry, however, showed that a belief 
in the spiritual world, however imperfect, had 
a commanding influence over almost all their 
actions. Their creed includes even some lofty 
and pure conceptions. Under the title of the 
Great Spirit, the Master of Life, the Maker of 
heaven and earth, they distinctly recognise a 
supreme ruler of the universe and an arbiter of 
their destiny. A party of them, when informed 
by the missionaries of the existence of a being 
of infinite power, who had created the heavens 
and the earth, with one consent exclaimed, 
"Atahocan ! Jitahocan ! 9§ that being the name 
of their principal deity. According to Long, the 
Indians among whom he resided ascribe every 
event, propitious or unfortunate, to the favour 
or anger of the Master of Life. They address 
him for their daily subsistence $ they believe him 
to convey to them presence of mind in battle ; 
and amid tortures they thank him for inspiring 
them with courage. Yet though this one elevated J 
and just conception is deeply graven on their 
minds, it is combined with others which show 
all the imperfection of unassisted reason in at- 
tempting to think rightly on this great subject. ! 
It may even be observed, that the term, rendered ! 



I 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



217 



into our language " great spirit/' does not really 
convey the idea of an immaterial nature. It 
imports with them merely some being possesed 
of lofty and mysterious powers, and in this 
sense is applied to men, and even to animals. 
The brute creation, which occupies a prominent 
place in all their ideas, is often viewed by them 
as invested, to a great extent, with supernatural 
powers ; an extreme absurdity, which, however, 
they share with the civilized creeds of Egypt 
and India. 

When the missionaries, on their first arrival, 
attempted to form an idea of the Indian my- 
thology, it appeared to them extremely compli- 
cated, more especially because those who at- 
tempted to explain it had no fixed opinions. 
Each man differed from his neighbour, and at 
another time from himself; and when the dis- 
crepances were pointed out, no attempt was 
made to reconcile them. The southern tribes, 
who had a more settled faith, are described by 
Adair as intoxicated with spiritual pride, and 
denouncing even their European allies as " the 
accursed people." The native Canadian, on the 
contrary, is said to have been so little tenacious, 
that he would at any time renounce all his the- 
ological errors for a pipe of tobacco, though, as 
soon as it was smoked, he immediately relapsed. 
An idea was found prevalent respecting a certain 
mystical animal, called Mesou or Messessagen, 
who, when the earth was buried in water, had 
drawn it up and restored it. Others spoke of a 
contest between the hare, the fox, the beaver, and 
19 



218 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



the seal, for the empire of the world. Among 
the principal nations of Canada, the hare is 
thought to have attained a decided preeminence ; ! 
and hence the Great Spirit and the Great Hare 
are sometimes used as synonymous terms. 
What should have raised this creature to such 
distinction seems rather unaccountable ; unless 
it were that its extreme swiftness might appear 
something supernatural. Among the Ottowas 
alone the heavenly bodies become an object of 
veneration; the sun appears to rank as their 
supreme deity. 

To dive into the abyss of futurity has always 
been a favourite object of superstition. It has 
been attempted by various means; but the 
Indian seeks it chiefly through his dreams, which 
always bear with him a sacred character. Be 
fore engaging in any high undertaking, especi 
ally in hunting or war, the dreams of the prin 
cipal chiefs are carefully watched and studiously 
examined; and according to the interpretation 
their conduct is guided. A whole nation has 
been set in motion by the sleeping fancies of a 
single man. Sometimes a person imagines in 
his sleep that he has been presented with an 
article of value by another, who then cannot, 
without impropriety, leave the omen unfulfilled. 
When Sir William Johnson, during the Ameri- 
can war, was negotiating an alliance with a 
friendly tribe, the chief confidentially disclosed 
that, during his slumbers, he had been favoured 
with a vision of Sir William bestowing upon 
him the rich laced coat which formed his full 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



219 



dress. The fulfilment of this revelation was 
very inconvenient ; yet, on being assured that 
it positively occurred, the English commander 
found it advisable to resign his uniform. Soon 
after, however, he unfolded to the Indian a 
dream with which he had himself been favored, 
and in which the former was seen presenting 
him with a large tract of fertile land most com- 
modiously situated. The native ruler admitted 
that, since the vision had been vouchsafed, it 
must be/realized, yet earnestly proposed to cease 
this mutual dreaming, which he found had 
turned much to his own disadvantage. 

The manitou is an object of peculiar venera- 
tion ; and the fixing upon this guardian power 
is not only the most important event in the 
history of a youth, but even constitutes his 
initiation into active life. As a preliminary, his 
face is painted black, and he undergoes a severe 
fast, which is, if possible, prolonged for eight 
days. This is preparatory to the dream in which 
he is to behold the idol destined ever after to 
afford him aid and protection. In this state of 
excited expectation, and while every nocturnal 
vision is carefully watched, there seldom fails to 
occur to his mind something which, as it makes 
a deep impression, is pronounced his manitou. 
Most commonly it is a trifling and even fantastic 
article ; the head, beak, or claw of a bird, the 
hoof of a cow, or even a piece of wood. How- 
ever, having undergone a thorough perspiration 
in one of their vapour-baths, he is laid on his 
back, and a picture of it is drawn upon his 



220 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



breast by needles of fish-bone dipped in ver- 
milion. A good specimen of the original being 
procured, it is carefully treasured up ; and to it 
he applies in every emergency, hoping that it 
will inspire his dreams, and secure to him every 
kind of good fortune. When, however, not- 
withstanding every means of propitiating its 
favour, misfortunes befall him, the manitou is 
considered as having exposed itself to just and 
serious reproach. He begins with remonstrances, 
representing all that has been done for it, the 
disgrace it incurs by not protecting its votary, 
and, finally, the danger that, in case of repeated 
neglect, it may be discarded for another. Nor 
is this considered merely as an empty threat ; 
for if the manitou is judged incorrigible, it is 
thrown away ; and by means of a fresh course 
of fasting, dreaming, sweating, and painting, 
another is installed, from whom better success 
may be hoped. 

The absence of temples, worship, sacrifices, 
and all the observances to which superstition 
prompts the untutored mind, is a remarkable 
circumstance, and, as we have already remarked, 
led the early visiters to believe that the Indians 
were strangers to all religious ideas. Yet the 
missionaries found room to suspect that some 
of their great feasts, in which every thing pre- 
sented must be eaten, bore an idolatrous char- 
acter, and were held in honour of the Great 
Hare. The Ottawas, whose mythological system 
seems to have been the most complicated, were 
wont to keep a regular festival to celebrate the 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 221 



beneficence of the sun ; on which occasion the 
luminary was told that this service was in return 
for the good hunting he had procured for his 
people, and as an encouragement to persevere 
in his friendly cares. They were also observed 
to erect an idol in the middle of their town, and 
sacrifice to it ; but such ceremonies were by no 
means general. On first witnessing Christian 
worship, the only idea suggested by it was thaf 
of their asking some temporal good, which was 
either granted or refused. The missionaries 
mention two Hurons, who arrived from the 
woods soon after the congregation had assem- 
bled. Standing without, they began to speculate 
what it was the white men were asking, and 
then whether they were getting it. As the service 
continued beyond expectation, it was concluded 
they were not getting it ; and as the devotional 
duties still proceeded, they admired the per- 
severance with which this rejected suit was 
urged. At length, when the vesper hymn began, 
one of the savages observed to the other: 
" Listen to them now in despair, crying with all 
their might." 

The grand doctrine of a life beyond the grave 
was, among all the tribes of America, most 
deeply cherished and most sincerely believed. 
They had even formed a distinct idea of the 
region whither they hoped to be transported, 
and of the new and happier mode of existence, 
free from those wars, tortures, and cruelties 
which throw so dark a shade over their lot upon 
earth. Yet their conceptions on this subject 
19* 



222 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



were by no means either exalted or spiritualized 
They expected simply a prolongation of their 
present life and enjoyments, under more fa- 
vourable circumstances, and with the same 
objects furnished in greater choice and abund- 
ance. In that brighter land the sun ever shines 
unclouded, the forests abound with deer, the 
lakes and rivers with fish ; benefits which are 
farther enhanced in their imagination by a faith- 
ful wife and dutiful children. They do not reach 
it, however, till after a journey of several months, 
and encountering various obstacles; a broad 
river, a chain of lofty mountains, and the attack 
of a furious dog. This favoured country lies 
far in the west, at the remotest boundary of 
the earth, which is supposed to terminate in a 
steep precipice, with the ocean rolling beneath. 
Sometimes, in the too eager pursuit of game, 
the spirits fall over, and are converted into 
fishes. The local position of their paradise ap- 
pears connected with certain obscure intimations 
received from their wandering neighbours of 
the Mississippi, the Rocky Mountains, and the 
distant shores of the Pacific. This system of 
belief labours under a great defect, inasmuch as 
it scarcely connects felicity in the future world 
with virtuous conduct in the present. The one 
is held to be simply a continuation of the other ; 
and under this impression, the arms, ornaments, 
and everything that had contributed to the wel- 
fare of the deceased, are interred along with 
him. This supposed assurance of a future life, 
so conformable to their gross habits and con- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 223 



ceptions, was found by the missionaries a serious 
obstacle when they attempted to allure them 
by the hope of a destiny, purer and higher in- 
deed, but less accordant with their untutored 
conceptions. Upon being told that in the pro- 
mised world they would neither hunt, eat, drink, 
nor marry, many of them declared that, far 
from endeavouring to reach such an abode, they 
would consider their arrival there as the greatest 
calamity. Mention is made of a Huron girl 
whom one of the Christian ministers was en- 
deavouring to instruct, and whose first question 
was what she would find to eat. The answer 
being "Nothing," she then asked what she 
would see ; and being informed that she would 
see the Maker of heaven and earth, she ex- 
pressed herself much at a loss how she should 
address him. 



224 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



INDIAN FUNERALS. 

Another sentiment, congenial with that now 
described, is most deeply rooted in the mind of 
the Indians. This is reverence for the dead, 
with which Chateaubriand, though somewhat 
hastily, considers them more deeply imbued than 
any other people. During life they are by no 
means lavish in their expressions of tenderness, 
but on the hour of final separation it is dis- 
played with extraordinary force. When any 
member of a family becomes seriously ill, all 
the resources of magic and medicine are ex- 
hausted in order to procure his recovery. When 
the fatal moment arrives, all the kindred burst 
into loud lamentations, which continue till some 
person possessing the requisite authority desires 
them to cease. These expressions of grief, 
however, are renewed for a considerable time 
at sunrise and sunset. After three days the 
funeral takes place, when all the provisions 
which the family can procure are expended in 
a feast, to which the neighbours are generally 
invited ; and, although on all solemn occasions 
it is required that every thing should be eaten, 
the relations do not partake. These last cut off 
their hair, cover their heads, paint their faces of 
a black colour, and continue long to deny them- 
selves every species of amusement. The de- 
ceased is then interred with his arms and orna- 
ments, his face painted, and his person attired 
in the richest robes which they can furnish. It 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 225 



was the opinion of one of the early missionaries, 
that the chief object of the Hurons in their 
traffic with the French was to procure materials 
for honouring their dead ; and, as a proof of 
this, many of them have been seen shivering 
half naked in the cold, while their hut contained 
rich robes to be wrapped round them after their 
decease. The body is placed in the tomb in an 
upright posture, and skins are carefully spread 
round it, so that no part may touch the earth. 
This, however, is by no means the final cere- 
mony, being followed by another still more 
solemn and singular. Every eighth, tenth, or 
twelfth year, according to the custom of the 
different nations, is celebrated the festival of the 
dead ; and, till then, the souls are supposed to 
hover round their former tenement, and not to 
depart for their final abode in the west. On 
this occasion the people march in procession to 
the places of interment, open the tombs, and, on 
beholding the mortal remains of their friends, 
continue some time fixed in mournful silence. 
The women then break out into loud cries, and 
the party begin to collect the bones, removing 
every remnant of flesh. The remains are then 
wrapped in fresh and valuable robes, and con- 
veyed amid continual lamentation to the family 
cabin. A feast is then given, followed during 
several days by dances, games, and prize-com- 
bats, to which strangers often repair from a 
great distance. This mode pf celebration cer- 
tainly accords very ill with the sad occasion ; 
yet the Greek and Roman obsequies were 



226 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



solemnized in a similar manner ; nay, in many 
parts of Scotland, till very recently, they were 
accompanied by festival, and often by revelry. 
The relics are then carried to the council-house 
of the nation, where they are hung for exhibi- 
tion along the walls, with fresh presents destined 
to be interred along with them. Sometimes 
they are even displayed from village to village. 
At length, being deposited in a pit previously 
dug in the earth, and lined with the richest furs, 
they are finally entombed. Tears and lamen- 
tations are again lavished; and during a few 
days food is brought to the place. The bones 
of their fathers are considered by the Indians 
the strongest ties to their native soil ; and when 
calamity forces them to quit it, these mouldering 
fragments are, if possible, conveyed along with 



INDIAN ANECDOTES, 



227 



INDIAN CANNIBALISM. 

It has been made a question whether the 
Indians can be justly charged with cannibalism. 
It is certain that all the terms by which they 
designate their inhuman mode of putting a 
prisoner to death bear reference to this horrid 
practice. The expressions are to throw him 
into the caldron, to devour him, to eat soup 
made of his flesh. It has hence been plausibly 
inferred that this enormity really prevailed in 
early times, but was changed, we can scarcely 
say mitigated, into the present system of torture. 
Yet, as every action is described by them in 
terms highly figurative, those now quoted may 
have been used as expressing most fully the 
complete gratification of their revenge. Of 
this charge they cannot now be either con- 
demned or wholly acquitted. In the excited 
fury of their passions, portions of the flesh are 
often seized, roasted, and eaten, and draughts 
taken of the blood. To eat an enemy's heart 
is considered a peculiar enjoyment. Long 
mentions a gentleman who came upon a party 
who were busy broiling a human heart, when 
he with difficulty prevailed on them to desist. 
There is little hesitation among them, in periods 
of scarcity, to relieve hunger with the flesh of 
their captives ; and during one war, this fate is 
said to have befallen many French soldiers who 
fell into the hands of the Five Nations. Colonel 
Schuyler told Colden, that, having entered the 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



cabin of a chief who had some rich soup before 
him, he was invited to partake. Being hungry 
and tired, he readily agreed, till the ladle, being 
put into the great caldron, brought up a human 
hand, the sight of which put an immediate end 
to his appetite and meal. 



INDIAN DANCES. 

The dances of the Indians, even those at 
common festivals, are on an extensive scale, re- 
quiring to a complete performance forty or fifty 
persons, who execute their evolutions by fol- 
lowing each other round a great fire kindled in 
the centre. Their movements, monotonous but 
violent, consist in stamping furiously on the 
ground, and often brandishing their arms in a 
manner compared by an able writer to a baker 
converting flour into dough. They keep good 
time ; but the music is so exceedingly simple 
that this implies little merit. They conclude , 
with a loud shout or howl, which echoes 
frightfully through the woods. The dances in | 
celebration of particular events are of a more | 
varied character, and often form a very expres- 
sive pantomime. The war-dance is the most [ 
favourite and frequent. In this extraordinary J 
performance, a complete image is given of the 
terrible reality ; the war-whoop is sounded with 
the most frightful yells ; the tomahawk is wildly j 
brandished; and the enemy are surprised, seized, l 
and scalped, or carried off for torture. The [ 



! 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



229 



calumet-dance, which celebrates peace between 
nations, and the marriage-dance, which repre • 
rents domestic life, are much more pleasing. 
Some mention is made of a mystic dance, 
carried on by the jugglers or doctors, with 
strange superstitious ceremonies, and in which 
a supernatural personage, termed by some the 
devil, rises and performs ; but it does not seem 
to have been witnessed by any European, and 
is said to be now in a great measure disused. 



INDIAN GAMES. 

There are games to which the Indians are 
fondly attached, which, though they be only 
ranked under the head of amusement, are yet 
constructed in the same serious manner as their 
other transactions. Their great parties are said 
to be collected by supernatural authority, com- 
municated by the jugglers ; and they are pre- 
ceded, like their wars and hunts, by a course of 
fasting, dreaming, and other means of propitia- 
ting fortune. The favourite game is that of the 
bone, in which small pieces of that substance, 
resembling dice, and painted of different colours, 
are thrown in the air, and according to the 
manner in which they fall, the game is decided. 
Only two persons can play; but a numerous 
party, and sometimes whole villages, embrace 
one side or the other, and look on with intense 
interest. At each throw, especially if it be de- 
cisive, tremendous shouts are raised ; the players 
20 



230 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



and spectators equally resemble persons pos- 
sessed; the air rings with invocations to the 
bones and to the manitous. Their eagerness 
sometimes leads to quarreling and even fighting, 
which on no other occasion ever disturb the 
interior of these societies. To such a pitch are 
they occasionally worked up. that they stake 
successively all they possess, and even their 
personal liberty ; but this description must apply 
only to the more southern nations, as slavery 
was unknown among the Canadian Indians. 

A temporary interval of wild license, of 
emancipation from all the restraints of dignity 
and decorum, seems to afford an enjoyment 
highly prized in all rude societies. Corresponding 
with the saturnalia and bacchanals of antiquity, 
the Indians have their festivals of dreams, which, 
during fifteen days, enlivens the inaction of the 
coldest season. Laying aside all their usual 
order and gravity, they run about, frightfully 
disguised, and committing every imaginable 
extravagance. He who meets another demands 
an explanation of his visions, and if not satisfied, 
imposes some fantastic penalty. He throws 
upon him cold water, hot ashes, or filth ; some- 
times, rushing into his cabin, he breaks and 
destroys the furniture. Although everything 
appears wild and unpremeditated, it is alleged I 
that opportunities are often taken to give vent 
to old and secret resentments. The period 
having elapsed, a feast is given, order is restored, j 
and the damages done are carefully repaired. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 231 



BEAUTIFUL TRAIT OP CHARACTER. 

One M'Dougal, a native of Argyleshire, hav 
ing emigrated to Upper Canada, from anxiety 
to make the most of his scanty capital, or some 
other motive, he purchased a location, where 
the price of land is merely nominal, in a country 
thinly peopled, and on the extreme verge of 
civilization. His first care was to construct a 
house, and plant in the wild. This task finished, 
he spent his whole time, early and late, in the 
garden and the fields. By vigorous exertions, 
and occasional assistance, he brought a few 
acres of ground under crop ; acquired a stock 
of cattle, sheep and hogs ; made additional in- 
roads on the glade and the forest, and, though 
his toils were hard, gradually and imperceptibly 
became, in a rough way, " well enough to live," 
as compared with the poverty he had abandoned 
at home. 

His greatest discomforts were, distance from 
his neighbours, the church, markets, and even 
the mill ; and, along with these, the suspension 
(or rather, the enjoyment) after long intervals 
of time, of those endearing charities and friendly 
offices, which lend such a charm to social life. 

On one occasion, M'Dougal had a melder of 
corn to grind, and as the distance was consider- 
able, and the roads none of the smoothest, this 
important part of his duty could only be per- 
formed by starting with the sun, and returning 
with the going down of the same. In his ab- 



232 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



sence, the care of the cattle devolved on his 
spouse, and as they did not return at the usual 
hour, the careful matron went out in quest of 
them. Beyond its mere outskirts, the forest was, 
to her, terra incognita, in the most emphatic 
sense of the term; and with no compass, or 
notched trees to guide, it is not to be wondered 
at that she wandered long and wearily to very | 
little purpose. Like alps on alps, tall trees arose 
on every side — a boundless continuity of shade 
— and, fatigued with the search, she deemed it 
prudent to retrace her steps, while it was yet 
time. But this resolution was much easier 
formed than executed ; returning was as dan- 
gerous as " going o'er," and, after wandering 
for hours, she sunk on the ground, her eyes 
swollen and filled with tears, and her mind 
agitated almost to distraction. But here she had 
not rested many minutes, before she was startled 
by the sound of approaching footsteps, and, 
anon, an Indian hunter stood before her, " a 
stoic of the woods, a man without fear." Mrs. 
M'Dougal knew that Indians lived at no great 
distance, but as she had never seen a member 
of the tribe, her emotions were those of terror 
— quickening, it may be said, every pulse, and 
yet paralyzing every limb. The Indian's views 
were more comprehensive; constantly on the 
look out, in search of the quarry, and accustomed 
to make circuits, comprising the superficies of 
many a highland mountain and glen, he had 
observed her, without being observed himself, 
knew her home, recognized her person, com- 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



233 



prehended her mishap, divined her errand, and 
immediately beckoned her to follow him. The 
unfortunate woman understood his signal, and 
obeyed it, as far as terror left her power ; and, 
after a lengthened sweep, which added not a 
little to her previous fatigue, they arrived at the 
door of an Indian wigwam. 

Her conductor invited her to enter, by signs : 
but this she sternly refused to do, dreading the 
consequence, and preferring death in the open 
air to the tender mercies of cannibals within. 
Perceiving her reluctance, and scanning her 
feelings, the hospitable Indian darted into the 
wigwam, and communed with his wife, who, 
in a few minutes, also appeared : and, by certain 
signs and sympathies, known only to females, 
calmed the stranger's fears, and induced her to 
enter their lowly abode. Venison was instantly 
prepared for supper, and Mrs. M'Dougal — 
though still alarmed at the novelty of her situa- 
tion, found the viands delicious, and had rarely, 
if ever, partaken of so savoury a meal. Aware 
that she was wearied, the Indians removed from 
their place near the roof, two beautiful deer 
skins, and, by stretching and fixing them across, 
divided the wigwam into two apartments. Mats 
were also spread in both, and next, the stranger 
was given to understand, that the further dor- 
mitory was expressly designed for her acom- 
modation. But here again her courage failed 
her, and to the most pressing intreaties, she 
replied by signs, as well as she could, that she 
would prefer to sit and sleep by the fire. This 
20* 



234 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



determination seemed to puzzle the Indian and 
his squaw sadly. Often they looked at each 
other, and conversed softly in their own lan- 
guage : and, at last, the Red took the White 
woman by the hand, led her to her couch, and 
became her bedfellow. In the morning she 
awoke greatly refreshed, and anxious to depart, 
without further delay — but the Indian would 
on no account permit it. Breakfast was pre- 
pared — another savoury and well-cooked meal 
— and then the Indian accompanied his guest, 
and conducted her to the very spot where the 
cattle were grazing. These he kindly drove 
from the wood, on the verge of which Mrs. 
M'Dougal descried her husband, running about 
every where, hallooing and seeking for her, in 
a state of absolute distraction. Great was his 
joy, and great his gratitude to her Indian bene- 
factor, who was invited to the house, and treated 
to the best the larder afforded, and presented, 
on his departure, with a suit of clothes. 

In about three days he returned, and endea- 
voured, by every wile, to induce Mr. M'Dougal 
to follow him into the forest. But this invita- 
tion the other positively declined — and the poor 
Indian went on his way, obviously grieved and 
disappointed. But again he returned; and, 
though words were wanting, renewed his in- 
treaties — but still vainly, and without effect: 
and then, as a last desperate effort, he hit upon 
an expedient, which none, save an Indian 
hunter, would have thought of. Mrs. M'Dougal 
had a nursling only a few months old — a fact 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 235 



the Indian failed not to notice. After his pan- 
tomimic eloquence had been thrown away, he 
approached the cradle, seized the child, and 
darted out of the house with the speed of an 
antelope. The alarmed parents instantly fol- 
lowed, supplicating and imploring, at the top 
of their voices. But the Indian's resolves were 
as fixed as fate — and away he went, slow 
enough to encourage his pursuers, but still in 
the van by a good many paces, and far enough 
ahead to achieve the secret purpose he had 
formed — like the parent-bird, skimming the 
ground, when she wishes to wile the enemy 
from her nest. Again and again Mr. M'Dougal 
wished to continue the chase alone — but mater- 
nal anxiety baffled every remonstrance; and 
this anxiety was, if possible, increased, when 
she saw the painted savage enter the wood, and 
steer, as she thought, his course towards his 
own cabin. The Indian, however, was in no 
hurry ; — occasionally, he cast a glance behind, 
poised the child almost like a feather, treading 
his way with admirable dexterity, and kept the 
swaddling clothes so closely drawn around it, 
that not even the winds of heaven were per- 
mitted to visit it roughly. It is, of course, need- 
less to go into all the details of this singular 
journey, further than to say, that the Indian, at 
length, called a halt on the margin of a most 
beautiful prairie, teeming with the richest vege- 
tation, and comprising many thousands of acres. 
In a moment the child was restored to its parents 
— who, wondering what so strange a procedure 



236 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



could mean, stood, for some minutes, panting 
for breath, and eyeing one another in silent and 
speechless astonishment. 

The Indian, on the other hand, appeared 
overjoyed at the success of his manoeuvre — 
and never did a human being frisk about and 
gesticulate with greater animation. We have 
heard, or read, of a professor of signs: and 
supposing such a character were wanted, the 
selection could not — or, at least should not— be 
a matter of difficulty, so long as even a remnant 
remains of the aborigines of North America. 
All travellers agree in describing their gestures 
as highly dignified, eloquent, and intelligent: 
and we have the authority of Mr. M'Dougal 
for saying, that the hero of the present strictly 
authentic tale, proved himself to be a perfect 
master of the art. The restoration of the child 
— the beauty and wide extent of the prairies, 
and various other circumstances combined — 
flashed across our countryman's mind — opera- 
ting conviction where jealously and distrust had 
lurked before. Mr. M'Dougal, in a trice, ex- 
amined the soil, and immediately saw the pro- 
priety of the advice given by the untutored one. 
By a sort of tacit agreement, a day was fixed 
for the removal of the materials of our country- 
man's cabin, goods and chattels; — and the 
Indian, true to his word, brought a detachment 
of his tribe to assist in one of the most romantic 
"flittmgs" that ever was undertaken either in 
the old or new world. In a few days a roomy 
log-house was fashioned, and a garden formed 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 237 

in a convenient section of the beautiful prairie, 
from which the smoke was seen curling, and 
the woodpecker tapping at no great distance. 
M'Dougal was greatly pleased at the change — 
and no wonder, seeing that he could almost 
boast of a body-guard as bold as the bowmen 
of Robin Hood. His Indian friend speedily 
became a sort of foster brother, and his tribe as 
faithful as the most attached Tail of Gillies that 
ever surrounded a Highland chieftain. Even 
the stupid kine lowed, on finding themselves 
suddenly transferred to a boundless range of 
richest pasture : — and, up to the date of the 
last advices, were improving rapidly in condi- 
tion, and increasing in numbers. 

The little garden was smiling like a rose in 
the desert — grass, overabundant, was gradually 
giving way to thriving crops, and the kine so 
well satisfied with their gang, that the herds 
and enclosures were like unheeded to keep them 
from the corn. The Indians continued friendly 
and faithful — occasionally bringing presents of 
venison and other game, and were uniformly 
rewarded from the stores of a dairy, overflowing 
with milk, butter, and cheese. 

Attached as the Red man was to his own 
mode of life, he was induced at length to form 
a part of the establishment, in the capacity of 
grieve, or head shepherd — a duty he undertook 
most cheerfully, as it still left him opportunities 
of meeting and communing with his friends, 
and reconnoitering the altering denizens of the 
forest. Let us hope, therefore, that no unto- 



238 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



ward accident will occur to mar this beautiful 
picture of sylvan life ; that the M'Dougal colony- 
will wax stronger, till every section of the 
prairie is forced to yield tribute to the spade 
and the plough. 



THE REFORMED INDIAN. 

Some of the Indians believe, that the " Evil 
Spirit" is the maker of spirituous liquors, from 
which, notwithstanding, hardly one of them 
can refrain. An Indian near the Delaware 
Water Gap, told Mr. Heckewelder, a missionary, 
that he had once, when under the influence of 
strong liquor, killed the best Indian friend he 
had, fancying him to be his worst avowed 
enemy. He said that the deception was com- 
plete ; and that while intoxicated, the face of 
his friend presented to his eyes all the features 
of the man with whom he was in a state of 
hostility. It is impossible to express the horror 
which struck him, when he awoke from that 
delusion. He was so shocked, that from that 
moment, he resolved never more to taste of the 
maddening potion, of which he was convinced 
the devil was the inventor; for that it could 
only be the " Evil Spirit" who made him see 
his enemy when his friend was before him, and 
produced so strong a delusion on his bewildered 
senses, that he actually killed him. From that 
time until his death, which happened thirty 
years afterwards, he never drank a drop of 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



23S 



ardent spirits, which he always called "the 
devil's blood and was firmly persuaded that 
the devil, or some of his infernal spirits, had a 
hand in preparing it. 

ft 

* 

FIDELITY. 

Among the North American Indians, one of 
the first lessons they inculcate on their children, 
is duty to their parents, and respect for old age ; 
and there is not among the most civilized 
nations, any people who more strictly observe 
the duty of filial obedience. A father need 
only to say, in the presence of his children, " 1 
want such a thing done" — " I want one of my 
children to go upon such an errand" — " Let me 
see who is the good child that will do it." The 
word good operates as it were by magic, and 
the children immediately vie with each other to 
comply with the parent's wishes. If a father 
sees an old decrepid man or woman pass by, 
led along by a child, he will draw the attention 
of his own children to the object, by saying, 
66 What a good child that must be, which pays 
such attention to the aged ! That child, indeed, 
looks forward to the time when it will likewise 
be old, and need its children's help." Or he 
will say, " May the Great Spirit, who looks upon 
him, grant this good child a long life !" 

; 



240 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



STRATAGEM DEFEATED. 

Early in the war of the American revolution, 
a Sergeant, who travelled through the woods 
of New Hampshire, on his way to the American 
army, met with a singular adventure, which 
ended much to his credit. 

He had twelve men with him. Their route 
was far from any settlement, and they were 
obliged every night to encamp in the woods. 
The Sergeant had seen a good deal of the 
Indians, and understood them well ; — early in 
the afternoon, one day, as they were marching 
on, over bogs, swamps, and brooks, under the 
towering maple trees, a body of Indians, ex- 
ceeding their own number, rushed out upon a 
hill in front of them. 

They appeared to be pleased at meeting with 
the Sergeant and his party. They considered 
them, they said, as their best friends ; for them- 
selves, they had taken up the hatchet for the 
Americans, and would scalp and strip those 
rascally English for them, like so many wild 
cats. " How do you do, pro ?" (meaning 
brother) said one. "How do you do, pro?" 
said another, and so they went about, shaking 
hands with the Sergeant and his twelve men. 

They went off, at last, and the Sergeant, 
having marched onward a mile or two, halted 
his men, and addressed them, — "My brave 
fellows," said he, "we must use all possible 
caution, or before morning we shall all of us 



INDIAN ANECDOTES* 241 

| 

i be dead men. You are amazed, but depend 
i upon me, these Indians have tried to put our 
I suspicion to sleep ; you will see more of them 
by-and-bye." 

It was concluded, finally, to adopt the follow- 
ing scheme for defence : they encamped for the 
night, near a stream of water, which protected 
them from behind. A large oak was felled, 
| and a brilliant fire kindled ; each man cut a log 
of wood, about the size of his body, rolled it 
I nicely up in his blanket, placed his hat on the 
I end of it, and laid it before the fire, that the 
enemy might take it for a man. 

Thirteen logs were fitted out in this way, 
representing the Sergeant and his twelve men. 
They then placed themselves, with loaded guns, 
behind the fallen tree ; by this time it was dark, 
but the fire was kept burning till midnight. 
The Sergeant knew, that if the Savages ever 
came, they would come now. 

A tall Indian was seen, at length, through 
the glimmering of the fire, which was getting 
low. He moved cautiously towards them, 
skulking, as an Indian always does. He seemed 
to suspect, at first, that a guard might be 
watching, but seeing none, he came forward 
more boldly, rested on his toes, and was seen to 
move his finger, as he counted the thirteen men, 
sleeping, as he supposed, by the fire. He 
counted them again, and retired ; another came 
up, and did the same. Then the whole party, 
sixteen in number, came up and glared silently 
at the logs, till they seemed to be satisfied they 
21 



242 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



were fast asleep. Presently they took aim, 
fired their whole number of guns upon the logs, 
yelled the horrid war-whoop, and pushed for- 
ward to murder and scalp their supposed victims. 
The Sergeant and his men were ready for them ; 
they fired upon them, and not one of the Indians 
was left to tell the story of that night. The 
Sergeant reached the army in safety. 



SCENES IN KING WILLIAM'S WAR, 1689. 

SURPRISE OF DOVER. 

Thirteen years had almost elapsed since the 
seizure of the 400 Indians, at Cocheco, by 
Major Waldron; during all which time an 
inextinguishable thirst of revenge had been 
cherished among them, which never till now 
found opportunity for gratification. Wonolanset, 
one of the sachems of Penacook, who was 
dismissed with his people at the time of the 
seizure, always observed his father's dying 
charge, not to quarrel with the English ; but 
Hagkins another sachem, who had been treated 
with neglect by Cranfield, was more ready to 
listen to the seducing invitations of Castine's 
emissaries. Some of those Indians, who were 
then seized and sold into slavery abroad, had 
found their way home, and could not rest till 
they had their revenge. Accordingly a con- 
federacy being formed between the tribes of 
Penacook and Pigwacket, and the strange 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 243 



Indians (as they were called) who were in- 
corporated with them, it was determined to 
surprise the major and his neighbours, among 
whom they had all this time been peaceably 
conversant. 

In that part of the town of Dover which lies 
about the first falls in the river Cocheco, were 
five garrisoned houses ; three on the north side, 
called respectively, Waldron, Otis, and Heard ; 
and two on the south side, Peter Coffin and his 
son's. These houses were surrounded with 
timber walls, the gates of which, as well as the 
house doors, were secured with bolts and bars. 
The neighbouring families retired to these houses 
by night ; but by an unaccountable negligence, 
no watch was kept. The Indians who were 
daily passing through the town, visiting and 
trading with the inhabitants, as usual in time of 
peace, viewed their situation with an attentive 
eye. Some hints of a mischievous design had 
been given out by their squaws ; but in such 
dark and ambiguous terms that no one could 
comprehend their meaning. Some of the people 
were uneasy ; but Waldron, who, from a long 
course of experience, was intimately acquainted 
with the Indians, and on other occasions had 
been ready enough to suspect them, was now so 
thoroughly secure, that when some of the people 
hinted their fears to him, he merrily bade them 
to go and plant their pumpkins, saying that he 
would tell them when the Indians would break 
out. The very evening before the mischief 
was done, being told by a young man that the 



244 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



town was full of Indians, and the people were 
much concerned; he answered that he knew 
the Indians very well, and there was no danger. 

The plan which the Indians had preconcerted 
was, that two squaws should go to each of the 
garrisoned houses in the evening, and ask leave 
to lodge by the fire ; that in the night when the 
people were asleep they should open the doors 
and gates, and give the signal by a whistle, 
upon which the strange Indians, who were to 
be within hearing, should rush in, and take 
their long meditated revenge. This plan being 
ripe for execution, on the evening of Thursday 
the 27th of June, two squaws applied to each 
of the garrisons for lodging, as they frequently 
did in time of peace. They were admitted into 
all but the younger Coffin's, and the people, at 
their request, shewed them how to open the 
doors, in case they should have occasion to go 
out in the night. Mesandowit, one of their 
chiefs, went to Waldron's garrison, and was 
kindly entertained, as he had often been before. 
The squaws told the major, that a number of 
Indians were coming to trade with him the 
next day, and Mesandowit while at supper, 
with his usual familiarity, said, " Brother Wal- 
dron, what would you do if the strange Indians 
should come ?" The major carelessly answered, 
that he could assemble 100 men, by lifting up 
his finger. In this unsuspecting confidence the 
family retired to rest. 

When all was quiet, the gates were opened 
and the signal given. The Indians entered, set 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 245 

a guard at the door, and rushed into the major's 
apartment, which was an inner room. Awakened 
by the noise, he jumped out of bed, and though 
now advanced in life to the age of eighty years, 
he retained so much vigour as to drive them 
with his sword through two or three doors, but 
as he was returning for his other arms, they 
came behind him, stunned him with a hatchet, 
drew him into his hall, and seating him in an 
elbow chair on a long table insultingly asked 
him, " Who shall judge Indians now?" They 
then obliged the people in the house to get them 
some victuals : and when they had done eating, 
they cut the major across the breast and belly 
with knives, each one with a stroke saying, " I 
cross out my account." They then cut off his 
nose and ears, forcing them into his mouth — 
and when, spent with the loss of blood, he was 
falling down from the table, one of them held 
his own sword under him, which put an end to 
his misery. They also killed his son in law 
Abraham Lee ; but took his daughter Lee with 
several others, and having pillaged the house, 
left it on fire. Otis's garrison, which was next 
to the major's, met with the same fate ; he was 
killed, with several others, and his wife and 
child were captured. Heard's was saved by 
the barking of a dog just as the Indians were 
entering : Elder Wentworth, who was awakened 
by the noise, pushed them out, and falling on 
his back, set his feet against the gate and held 
it till he had alarmed the people; two balls 
were fired through it but both missed him. Cof 
21* 



246 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



fin's house was surprised, but as the Indiana 
had no particular enmity to him, they spared 
his life, and the lives of his family, and con- 
tended themselves with pillaging the house. 
Finding a bag of money, they made him throw 
it by handfulls on the floor, while they amused 
themselves in scrambling for it. They then 
went to the house of his son who would not 
admit the squaws in the evening, and summoned 
him to surrender, promising him quarter : he 
declined their offer, and determined to defend his 
house, till they brought out his father and 
threatened to kill him before his eyes ; filial af- 
fection then overcame his resolution, and he 
surrendered. They put both ifemilies together 
into a deserted house, intending to reserve them 
for prisoners; but while the Indians were busy 
in plundering, they all escaped. 

Twenty-three people were killed in this sur- 
prisai, and twenty-nine were captured ; five or 
six houses with the mills were burned ; and so 
expeditious were the Indians in the execution 
of their plot, that before the people could be 
collected from the other parts of the town to 
oppose them, they fled with their prisoners and 
booty. As they passed by Heard's garrison in 
their retreat, they fired upon it, but the people 
being prepared and resolved to defend it, and 
the enemy being in haste, it was preserved. The 
preservation of its owner was more remarkable 

Elizabeth Heard, with her three sons and a 
daughter, and some others, were returning in 
the night from Portsmouth \ they passed up the 



I INDIAN ANECDOTES. 247 

! 

river in their boat unperceived by the Indians, 
who were then in possession of the houses ; but 
suspecting danger by the noise which they 
I heard, after they had landed they betook them- 
I selves to Waldron's garrison, where they saw 
lights, which they imagined were set up for 
direction to those who might be seeking a 
refuge. They knocked and begged earnestly 
for admission, but no answer being given, a 
young man of the company climbed up the 
wall, and saw, to his inexpressible surprise, an 
Indian standing in the door of the house with 
his gun The woman was so overcome with 
the fright that she was unable to fly, but begged 
her children to shift for themselves, and they 
with heavy hearts left her. When she had a 
little recovered she crawled into some bushes, 
and lay there till day-light : she then perceived 
an Indian coming toward her with a pistol in his 
hand, he looked at her and went away ; return- 
ing, he looked at her again, and she asked him 
what he would have. He made no answer, but 
ran yelling to the house, and she saw him no 
more. She kept her place till the house was 
burned and the Indians were gone, and then re- 
turning home found her own house safe. Her 
preservation in these dangerous circumstances 
was more remarkable, if (as it is supposed) it 
was an instance of justice and gratitude in the 
Indians: for at the time when the 400 were 
seized in 1676, a young Indian escaped and 
took refuge in her house, where she concealed 
him ; in return for which kindness he promised 



I 



248 INDIAN ANECDOTES. 

her that he never would kill her, nor any of her 
family in any future war, and that he would 
use his influence with the other Indians to the j 
same purpose. This Indian was one of the 
party who surprised the place, and she was well 
known to the most of them. 

The same day, after the mischief was done, 
a letter from Secretary Addington, written by 
order of the government, directed to Major I 
Waldron, giving him notice of the intention of 
the Indians to surprise him under pretence of 
trade, fell into the hands of his son. This design 
was communicated to Governor Bradstreet by 
Major Henchman of Chelmsford, who had 
learned it of the Indians. The letter was dis- 
patched from Boston, the day before, by Mr. 
Weare ; but some delay which he met with at 
Newbury ferry prevented his arrival in season. 

The prisoners taken at this time were mostly 
carried to Canada, and sold to the French ; and 
these, so far as can be learned, were the first 
that ever were carried thither. One of these 
prisoners was Sarah Gerrish, a remarkably fine 
child, of seven years old, and grand-daughter of 
Major Waldron, in whose house she lodged that 
fatal night. Some circumstances attending her ! 
captivity are truly affecting. When she was awa« j 
kened by the noise of the Indians in the house, 
she crept into another bed, and hid herself under 
the clothes to escape their search. She remained 
in their hands till the next winter, and was sold 
from one to another several times. An Indian S 
girl once pushed her into a river ; but, catching 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



249 



Dy the bushes, she escaped drowning, yet durst 
not tell how she came to be wet. Once she was 
so weary with travelling, that she did not awake 
in the morning till the Indians were gone, and 
then found herself alone in the woods, covered 
with snow, and without any food; having found 
their tracks, she went crying after them till they 
heard her and took her with them. At another 
time they kindled a great fire, and the young 
Indians told her she was to be roasted. She 
burst into tears, threw her arms round her 
master's neck, and begged him to save her, 
which he promised to do if she would behave 
well. Being arrived in Canada, she was bought 
by the Intendant's lady, who treated her court- 
eously, and sent her to a nunnery for education. 
But when Sir William Phips was at Quebec she 
was exchanged, and returned to her friends, with 
whom she lived till she was sixteen years old. 

The wife of Richard Otis was taken at the 
same time, with an infant daughter of three 
months old. The French priests took this child 
under their care, baptised her by the name of 
Christina, and educated her in the Romish re- 
ligion. She passed some time in a nunnery, 
but declined taking the veil, and was married 
to a Frenchman, by whom she had two child- 
ren. But her desire to see New England was 
so strong, that upon an exchange of prisoners 
in 1714, being then a widow, she left both her 
children, who were not permitted to come with 
her, and returned home, where she abjured the 
Romish faith. M. Siguenot, her former confes- 



250 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



sor, wrote her a flattering letter, warning her 
of her danger, inviting her to return to the 
bosom of the catholic church, and repeating 
many gross calumnies which had formerly been 
vented against Luther and the other reformers. 
This letter being shown to Governor Burnet, he 
wrote her a sensible and masterly answer, re- 
futing the arguments, and detecting the false- 
hoods it contained: both these letters were 
printed. She was married afterwards to Captain 
Thomas Baker, who had been taken at Deer- 
field, in 1704, and lived in Dover, where she 
was born, till the year 1773. The Indians had 
been seduced to the French interest by popish 
emissaries, who had begun to fascinate them 
with their religious and national prejudices. 
They had now learned to call the English here- 
tics, and that to extirpate them as such was 
meritorious in the sight of heaven. When their 
minds were filled with religious frenzy, they 
became more bitter and implacable enemies 
than before ; and finding the sale of scalps and 
prisoners turn to good account in Canada, they 
had still farther incitement to continue their 
depredations, and prosecute their vengeance. 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



251 



TREATMENT OP THE PRISONERS AT SALMON 
FALLS IN 1690. 

The following instances of cruelty, exercised 
towards the prisoners taken at Salmon falls, are 
mentioned by Dr. Mather. Robert Rogers, a 
corpulent man, being unable to carry the burden 
which the Indians imposed upon him, threw it 
in the path and went aside in the woods to con- 
ceal himself. They found him by his track, 
stripped, beat, and pricked him with their 
swords: then tied him to a tree and danced 
round him till they had kindled a fire. They 
gave him time to pray, and take leave of his 
fellow prisoners, who were placed round the 
fire to see his death. They pushed the fire 
toward him, and when he was almost stifled, 
took it away to give him time to breathe, and 
thus prolong his misery; they drowned his 
dying groans with their hideous singing and 
yelling, all the while dancing round the fire, 
cutting off pieces of his flesh and throwing 
them in his face. When he was dead they left 
his body broiling on the coals, in which state it 
was found by his friends and buried. Mehetabel 
Goodwin was taken with a child of five months 
old; when it cried they threatened to kill it, 
which made the mother go aside and sit for 
hours together in the snow to lull it to sleep ; 
her master seeing that this hindered her from 
travelling, took the child, struck its head against 
a tree, and hung it on one of the branches ; she 



J 

252 



INDIAN ANECDOTES. 



would have buried it but he would not let her, 
telling her that if she came again that way she 
might have the pleasure of seeing it. She was 
carried to Canada, and after five years returned 
home. Mary Plaisted was taken out of her 
bed, having lain in but three weeks : they made 
her travel with them through the snow and " to 
ease her of her burden/' as they said, struck 
the child's head against a tree, and threw it into 
a river. An anecdote of another kind may 
relieve the reader after these tragical accounts. 
Thomas Toogood was pursued by three Indians 
and overtaken by one of them, who having 
enquired his name, was preparing strings to 
bind him, holding his gun under his arm, which 
Toogood seized and went backward, keeping 
the gun presented at him, and protesting that he 
would shoot him if he alarmed the others who 
had stopped on the opposite side of the hill. 
By this dexterity he escaped and got safe into 
Cocheco; while his adversary had no recom- 
pense in his power but to call after hirn by the 
name of Nogood. 









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